Sports
Dominant Ratnayaka Central, Maris Stella savour Ritzbury Cup
by Reemus Fernando
Ratnayaka Central, Walala won the girls’ overall title by a margin of 23 points and Maris Stella College, Negombo returned to winning ways after a lapse of several years to clinch an overall boys’ title in an athletics event as the three-day Relay Carnival concluded at the Sugathadasa Stadium on Monday.
As expected, the athletics stronghold of Walala dominated middle and long distance relays and Maris Stella bagged the gold medals in sprint events including two age category 4×400 metres relays during the final session on the final day to beat their closest rivals Trinity by 35 points.
For Trinity too, the boys’ runner up title was their first an all-island athletics championship in many years.
For the third consecutive day, Ratnayake Central’s Asian Junior Championships medallists Tharushi Karunaratne and Shehan Dilranga continued to dazzle as they anchored the Under 20 girls’ and boys’ 4×400 metrs relays to victory.
The Under 16 relay quartert of Sesath Ranthisa, Dilanka Devinda, Dineth Sandeepana and Sahas Fonseka won Maris Stella the 4×400 metres relay, while Arosh Shakya, Tishan Nethmina, Chanuka Vithana and Mark Roshen combined to clinch the gold in the Under 18 boys’ 4×400 metres relay as their school enjoyed trophy success at national level after five years.
In a rare feat Ratnayake Central won all six relays from 4×100 metres to long distance medley in the Under 20 girls’ category. Karunaratne, who has secured a place in the national team for several international events played a key role in their success.
Ratnayake Cental were a little unlucky in the boys’ category as a dropped batton in the medley relay cost them a possible overall boys’ runner up title.
The Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Panel has named the following squads for the upcoming Tri-Nation ‘A’ Series and the Four-Day Series.
The Tri-Nation One-Day Series, featuring Sri Lanka ‘A’, India ‘A’, and Afghanistan ‘A’, will be played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium (RDICS), Dambulla, commencing on 9 June 2026.
The Four-Day Series between Sri Lanka ‘A’ and India ‘A’ will be played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium (GICS), Galle, with the first match scheduled to begin on 25 June 2026.
The Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Panel has selected the following squads to play in the West Indies Emerging Tour of Sri Lanka 2026.
The West Indies and Sri Lanka emerging teams will play two four-day games and three one-day games during the bilateral contest.
The tour will begin on the 8th of June with the first four-day game at MRICS, Hambantota, while the second four-day game will start on the 15th of June at the same venue.
One-day games will be played on the 22nd, 24th, and 26th of June.
The first two one-day games will be played at the SSC, and the final at the NCC.
A two-member ICC delegation that visited Dhaka earlier this week will report its findings and observations to the governing body. According to an ICC media release, directors Dr Mohammed Moosajee and Tavengwa Mukuhlani engaged with “a range of stakeholders to review developments linked to the BCB”.
Moosajee and Mukuhlani arrived in Dhaka on June 1, after which they met BCB’s ad-hoc committee members, including president Tamim Iqbal. The pair also met with members of the BCB’s election commission, with the polls scheduled to be held on June 7.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that the delegation also met with BCB directors who had resigned from the previous board. Among the directors who didn’t resign, Asif Akbar and Ahsan Iqbal Chowdhury were in the group that also met the ICC delegation in a separate meeting on June 2.
Afterwards, Aminul Islam, the former Bangladesh captain who was the BCB president until April, claimed that they urged the ICC to not recognise any election conducted by or under the authority of the ad-hoc committee on June 7 or at any other time. Aminul, who still considers himself the BCB president, said that the BCB’s ad-hoc committee should correct their May 31 press release regarding the ICC delegations’ visit to Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s High Court rejected a writ petition that challenged the legality of the election schedule and voter list for the upcoming BCB elections on June 7.
The bench of Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice Md Ashif Hasan passed the rejection order stating that the petition was not presented properly before it. The petition was filed on May 18, a month and a bit after the country’s sports ministry dissolved the BCB’s board of directors on April 7. They appointed an 11-member ad-hoc committee led by Tamim, the former Bangladesh captain, on the same day.
[Cricinfo]
SLC name squads for Tri-Nation ‘A’ series and Four-Day series
SLC name squads for West Indies Emerging Tour of Sri Lanka 2026
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