Hooliganism, rowdyism, drunken behaviour and vehicular road parades that pose a public nuisance will not be part of their culture as two of Sri Lanka’s oldest schools, St. Benedict’s College and Wesley College get down to commence playing a historic cricket series starting with the maiden match on April 23 and 24.
The series was inaugurated at a grand media launch held at the Hilton Hotel in Colombo on Wednesday where as many as nine commercial partners or sponsors weighed in while Wesley College’s youthful principal Avanka Fernando declared the match will be an occasion only for the discerning.
“Yes we will play a match (against St. Benedict’s), not a big match. We will create history based on Christian values and discipline. We will create a significant feature in the schools cricket arena”, said Fernando recalling what he told a group of old boys from Wesley who never had it easy convincing him to start a series against the Benedictines.
Organisers claim the match was made in heaven that even God will watch.
The first match will be played at St. Benedict’s College ground and the two schools will also move into a 50-over one-dayer on May 8 at the historic P Sara Oval in Colombo with both matches to be streamed live on YouTube as spectators will have to put up with coronavirus regulations.
“St Benedict’s College has been a humble institution that has produced some of the finest gentlemen in this country and it is very fitting that we start this association through the gentleman’s game of cricket”, said Rev Bro Pubudu Rajapakse the director of St. Benedict’s College.
The two schools take pride in recalling that they first met on the cricket field 125 years ago, but the match was never considered to be of any high-value unlike today when they will play for one of the biggest Cups in the world, a giant one named the Rev James Cartman Cup at the two-day encounter and Shield for the limited overs match named in memory of Rev Brother Luke Gregory.
Both schools say the encounter did not happen overnight and was three years in the pipeline which was kept as a jealously guarded secret.
“This match will focus on the development of students and we will not call it a big match. It is much more than that”, said Lalith Madappulli, the head of the Joint Organizing Committee.