Sports
St. Thomas’ meet St. Servatius’ in the 124th Battle of the Blues
Striving for victory is not the only task when arch rivals St. Thomas’ and St. Servatius’ meet in the 124th Battle of the Blues as the three-day Big Match starting today will act as the dress rehearsal for the crucial relegation match between the two teams in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ tournament.
Both teams finished among the last four teams in their respective groups in the Division I Tier ‘A’ tournament and now their place in the top Tier is in danger. Incidentally, the standings in their respective groups have resulted in the two teams being drawn against each other for relegation matches.
With the winners remaining in the top Tier and the losing team relegated to Tier ‘B” the two teams will be playing in two separate Tiers next season.
St. Thomas’ captained by Navija de Seram are slight favourites in the Big Match. De Seram is their leading bowler and will have his deputy Pesandu Sanjan sharing a bigger responsibility in the bowling department alongside Manuga Guruge.
Their pace attack is spearheaded by Bhanuka Insamal.The captain and his deputy will also play a lead role in the bating department.
For St. Servatius’ skipper Diniru Abeywickramasinghe is the leading batsman, while Viran Chamuditha, Vishwa Supun, Chamarindu Nethsara, Risinu Kithmuka and Raveen Kavintha rally around him to form the base of their batting department.In the bowling attack Sunny Dulshan and Chalana Indusha shared new ball duties, while Chamuditha is the leading spinner.
Front row from left: Priyantha Abeysekera (Coach), P I W Jayasekera (Head Coach), Ruvini Rubsinghe (Prefect of Games), Diniru Abeywickremesinghe (Captain), H K L B Virajith (Principal), Vishwa Supun (Vice Captain), Indika Deerasinghe (Vice Principal), W Hansa Sandaruwan (Master in Charge), Charith Dayarathna ( Assistant Coach) Middle row from left: Binal Nethmaka, Raveen Kavintha, Viran Chamuditha, Ahamad Sajid, Ivan Zholobitskyi, Chamarindu Nethsara, Risinu Kithmuka, Chalana Indusha, Sunny Perera, Heshan Madushanka, Samiru Gimhan Back row from left: Nethmal Bndara, Praveen Madushanka, Shalindu Nadushan, Gevin Sasanka, Oshada Nawarathne, Sanju Dilshan, Chamod Mihiranga, Praneeth Mihiranga
(RF)
St. Joseph’s College, Darley Road player Nuren Wevita and Sayuri Mututhanthiri of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo clinched the lowest age category titles of the 110th Colombo Championships concluded at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Friday.
Wevita won the Under 12 boys’ title with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kashya Seneviratne in the final. Sayuri registered 6-1, 6-3 win over Rehansa Ranasinghe in the girls’ title fight.
Sayuri Mututhanthiri
Roston Chase has been appointed West Indies’ new Test captain. The allrounder’s first Test as captain will be his 50th; his 49th, against South Africa in Johannesburg, came more than two years ago. West Indies have played 13 Tests since then.
Chase has previously led West Indies in one ODI and one T20I. His first assignment in the longest format will be the three-Test home series against Australia, which begins on his home ground in Bridgetown on June 25. Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican will be Chase’s vice-captain.
The series will be the first of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle for both teams.
CWI said that Chase had been appointed from a shortlist of six after a “detailed assessment process that included psychometric testing to evaluate leadership style, behaviour, and overall suitability for the role”. The other candidates interviewed were John Campbell, Tevin Imlach, Joshua Da Silva, Justin Greaves, and Warrican.
Shai Hope, West Indies captain in the white-ball formats, asked not to be considered in order to focus on his exciting leadership roles.
“This selection process is one of the most comprehensive and forward-thinking we have undertaken,” CWI president, Kishore Shallow, said. “I am deeply impressed by the professionalism, objectivity, and strategic thinking that shaped the final decision. It sets a new benchmark for leadership appointments in West Indies cricket.”
West Indies head coach, Daren Sammy, said: “I fully endorse this appointment. Our new captain has earned the respect of his peers, understands the responsibility that comes with the role, and has shown the leadership qualities we need to take this team forward. I urge fans across the region to rally behind him–we’re building something special.”
The 33-year-old Chase takes over from Kraigg Brathwaite, who resigned in March after 39 matches in charge of the Test team. West Indies won 10 of those Tests, lost 22 and drew seven.
At the time of Brathwaite’s resignation, CWI had handed Hope – already West Indies’ ODI captain – the T20I reins, but had held back on naming a new Test captain, announcing that they would do so “in the coming weeks”.
Brathwaite’s tenure was notable for a young West Indies team beginning to find ways of winning in different conditions with a growing pool of fast and spin bowlers. Notable performances included a 1-0 home series win over England in 2022, the Gabba Test win of January 2024, and a 1-1 draw in Pakistan in Brathwaite’s last series in charge, in January 2025.
Chase has scored 2265 runs at an average of 26.33, with five hundreds, and taken 85 wickets with his offspin at 46.00. One of his first tasks as captain will be to repair his batting numbers, which have fallen steadily following a promising start. He made a century in just his second Test, to help save the Jamaica Test against India in 2016, and scored two more over his first 10 Tests, across which he averaged 48.53. Since then, however, his numbers have declined significantly.
CWI announced Chase’s appointment via X, formerly Twitter, and said it had been “unanimously approved by the CWI Board of Directors” during a meeting on Friday.
[Cricinfo]
The winners of the Woorld Test Championship [WTC] final, to be played between South Africa and Australia at Lord’s starting June 11, will secure a prize money of USD 3.6 million, more than double of the winners in the last two cycles. The runners-up, meanwhile, will bag more than USD 2.1 million, while the prize for the same in the previous editions was USD 800,000.
The winners in the last two cycles — New Zealand and Australia — had earned USD 1.6 million each.
“The increase in prize money exhibits the ICC’s efforts to prioritize Test cricket as it looks to build on the momentum of the first three cycles of the nine-team competition,” the ICC said in its release.
India, who finished third on the table, will receive over USD 1.4 million, while fourth-placed New Zealand get USD 1.2 million. Even the prize money for teams finishing fifth (USD 960000) and sixth (USD 840000) — England and Sri Lanka — is more than what it was for the runners-up in the previous editions.
South Africa topped the table in the 2023-25 edition with eight wins from 12 games, and were the first team to seal a final spot with a dramatic two-wicket win over Pakistan. Defending champions Australia got through by pipping India to the second spot after winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1 at home.
Both teams have named their squads for the final. The focus for South Africa will be on their pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada after his one-month ban for failing a drug test, while Cameron Green makes his return to Australia’s Test side after undergoing a lower spine surgery last year.
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