All eyes will be on two outstanding batsmen — Rehan Peiris and Reshon Soloman — when arch rivals Royal College Colombo and S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia clash in the historic Battle of the Blues which begins at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground today.

‎Royal will be out all guns blazing in a determined bid to regain the shield they lost to their traditional rivals last year. The Reid Avenue boys enter the contest with confidence that their batting unit, led by skipper Rehan Peiris, can provide them with a strong foundation.

‎Rehan was the standout performer for Royal in the previous encounter, scoring a memorable century to spearhead their batting effort. In that match Royal boldly declared in the second innings to set their opponents a realistic target, adding further excitement to the contest.

‎This season too Rehan has been in exceptional form, amassing more than 900 runs at an average close to 50 — one of the most impressive batting tallies in the ongoing school cricket season. He will receive solid support from Sri Lanka Under-19 captain Vimath Dinsara and the promising Ramiru Perera as Royal look to dominate with the bat.

‎Royal have also strengthened their bowling attack by recruiting spinner Himaru Deshan from Holy Cross College Kalutara, adding variety and depth to their bowling resources.

‎Meanwhile, the Thomians will largely depend on the batting prowess of Reshon Soloman. He made a strong impression in the last edition of the big match and carries even greater responsibility this year.

‎

Reshon Soloman

Reshon has been among the most consistent performers this season, scoring close to 800 runs which include centuries against St. Anthony’s College Katugastota and Mahinda College Galle. Interestingly, not many speak about his earlier move from St. Peter’s College Colombo, but his performances have certainly made him one of the key players to watch in this encounter.

‎With two prolific run-scorers set to take centre stage, an absorbing contest is on the cards as Royal and S. Thomas’ renew one of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated school cricket rivalries. ‎

There can be no auspicious moment to celebrate life, foster humanity and work towards peace or prosperity. Sadly, we live in times where the energies of violence unleashed have sent tremors of anxiety and foreboding to all corners of the world even as they maim, kill and destroy.

One can only hope that sanity will soon prevail and that there will be a cessation of hostilities before more innocent lives are lost. In moments such as this the world would do well to remember that the preservation of human life needs to be the foremost objective. Sri Lanka itself recently reminded the world of this simple but powerful truth when lives were saved during the incidents involving Iranian vessels off our shores. One hopes that the global community will learn from such acts of humanity and choose compassion over conflict.

Such against-the-grain acts are sadly little more than a drop in an enormous ocean of discontent. We applaud and then slip into despair. At such times, in particular, we take refuge in what might have been and indeed what has transpired — those happy carefree moments where the only weapons sanctioned was friendly if caustic banter between friendly rivals. That’s what the Royal-Thomian cricket encounter is all about.

Royal College, Colombo, and S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia will do battle for three days, from the 12th to the 14th of March, for the 147th consecutive year. And every year something quite remarkable happens to thousands of otherwise sensible men. They begin discussing school cricket with the seriousness normally reserved for matters of state, diplomacy and occasionally national elections. This year’s encounter is extra special for the present and past students of S. Thomas’ College, that inimitable ‘School by the Sea,’ because it coincides with the institution’s 175th anniversary.

Royalists would be quick to raise objections, but it is abundantly clear to me that S. Thomas’ is the more distinguished and refined of the two schools. It is my conviction that many honest Royalists quietly accept this incontrovertible truth, although they may do so only after the second drink at the Royal Thomian!

A good example of the deep respect Royalists have for S. Thomas’ can be seen in our good friend Rajind Ranatunga, an Old Royalist, who wisely sent both his sons to Mount Lavinia. One of them went on to become Head Prefect of S. Thomas’, which is no small achievement for the Ranatunga family. It demonstrates, if nothing else, that Royalists recognise quality when they see it. Indeed, I have long harboured the suspicion that former president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who now wears the colours of Royal College, blue and gold, quite proudly, would have preferred to attend S. Thomas’ if it were up to him. His parents decided otherwise and so he had to settle for a school whose main claim to glory was playing a cricket match against S. Thomas’!

But jokes aside, the Royal–Thomian is one of the greatest events in our social calendar. It is not merely a cricket match. It is a reunion, a carnival, a festival of friendship and nostalgia. A spectacle unmatched.

The camaraderie of the Royal–Thomian is something difficult to explain to outsiders. It is something that must be experienced. Over the years I have spoken about this match so often that several of my foreign friends have eventually decided they must come and see what this mysterious event is all about. Some have travelled all the way from overseas simply to witness the spectacle of thousands of otherwise respectable adults behaving like carefree, unruly and even crude schoolboys again. This year two close Malaysian friends will join me; I am sure they will return home slightly puzzled but thoroughly entertained.

For three days the match becomes a carnival. Families gather, friendships are renewed, stories are told for the hundredth time and still raise loud guffaws. Royalists and Thomians sit side by side, arguing passionately about cricket while secretly enjoying each other’s company.

For me personally, the Royal–Thomian also carries memories of dear friends who are no longer with us. I will once again miss my friends Johann Wijesinghe and Suresh Gunasekera who enjoyed the Royal–Thomian like few others could or have and with whom I attended the match many times. These are the friendships that make the Royal–Thomian special.

Some people enjoy the Royal–Thomian with extraordinary enthusiasm, particularly the third-generation Thomians who approach the match with the seriousness of military strategists and the enthusiasm of schoolboys who have just discovered freedom. But this year there is another reason for reflection. Yes, S. Thomas’ College celebrates its 175th year.

Now the Royal Thomian has all kinds of tents for spectators. There are the ‘boys’ tents’ for school boys. The ‘Mustangs’ is the oldest of the tents and is essentially for the older of the old boys. An exclusive club, one might say. At some point some younger and yet ‘old’ old boys formed the ‘Colts.’ Then came the Stallions. Now it’s full of horses: Thoroughbreds, Broncos, Warmbloods etc., and there’s even ‘The Stables!’ I am now a member of the Mustangs. When I joined my good friend Varuna Botejue told me, “Now this is your last tent: the next tent you can get membership for will be the Borella Kanatte Tent.’ That’s the biggest cemetery in Colombo! That’s the Royal-Thomian for you: we can even laugh at impending death! I found it absolutely amusing but it also gave me flashbacks about how much we used to enjoy the Royal Thomian from school days and how time has passed in a remarkable way. It refreshed my mind about how excited we were and how one of the finest friendships developed.

For those of us who were fortunate enough to attend the school by the sea, the lessons we learned there have remained with us throughout our lives. S. Thomas’ did not simply teach us mathematics, history or cricket. It taught us something far more important. It taught us friendship, loyalty and the courage to stand by what is right, even when doing so is not easy and even when it may be unpopular. Those lessons have helped many of us face some rather difficult moments in life.

Looking back now, the times we spent at Mount Lavinia were among the finest of our lives. Friendships birthed and nurtured in school have a special quality. School friends know you at your best and occasionally at your worst. They know your strengths, your weaknesses and most importantly your stories. Of course, life also brings other friendships, wonderful friendships formed later in life that become part of our journey. But school friendships have a foundation that is difficult to replicate elsewhere.

And that, perhaps, is what the Royal–Thomian ultimately celebrates. Not just cricket. Not just rivalry. But friendship. After 147 years, the Royal–Thomian remains one of the most remarkable traditions in Sri Lankan life; a celebration of youth, camaraderie and the enduring bond between Royalists and Thomians. In fact, in my experience, it’s only Royalists and Thomians who virtually beat each other up to settle bills. ‘Friendly rivalry’ just doesn’t do justice to the bonds between the schools and those who walk through the respective portals. Ours exude grandeur, theirs do not, but we don’t hold the fact against any Royalist.

And as for the result of the match this year, we Thomians remain cautiously optimistic. After all, we are a generous school. We occasionally allow Royal to win, simply to keep the rivalry interesting.

By Krishantha Prasad Cooray

CIC Holdings, Regnis Appliances, Hayleys Group and IFS R&D International win on Sunday

CIC Holdings, Regnis Appliances, Hayleys Group and IFS R&D International registered wins in the league stage games of the 15th Stafford Motors – MCA G division T20 cricket tournament played at Dharmapala College and De Mazenod College grounds last Sunday.

At Pannipitiya half tons by N Dhanushan [83] and Eranga Madushan [56] and three wicket hauls by R M Aravinda [3-27] and Asela Priyadarshana [3-41] helped CIC Holdings overcome AIA by 46 runs while an allround performance by Pasindu Adithya [64 not out and 3-19] helped the Hayleys Group ‘C’ team defeat Sysco Labs by 32 runs in the afternoon game at the same venue.

At Kandana, MAS Active Kreeda thumped Regnis Appliances by seven wickets in the morning to register their second win of the tournament while in a group D match played in the afternoon IFS R&D International overcame Singer Sri Lanka by 45 runs.

At Dharmapala College ground:

CIC Holdings won by 46 runs

CIC HOLDINGS 212/4 IN 20 OVERS[N Danushan 83, Eranga Madushan 56, Achala Jayalath 38; Avindu Fernando 1-41, Sasanka Kularathna 1-41]

AIA 168/8 IN 20 OVERS [ Sasanka Kularathna 38, Madhura de Silva 71, Nuwan de Silva 12, Malindu Kalishka 15, Sujith Siriwardena 14; Suranga Jayasuriya 2-24, R M Aravinda 3-27, Asela Priyadarshana 3-41]

Hayleys Group won by 32 runs

HAYLEYS GROUP ‘C’ 170/5 IN 20 OVERS [Mahela Senevirathna 21, Gihan Gunathilaka 10, Pasindu Adithya 64*, Dilan Suraweera 35, Mahesh Deepal 15; Chathura Henanayake 1-11, Dasith Samarasinghe 1-22, Bhagya Disanayake 1-30, Milroy Fernando 1-15]

SYSCO LABS 138/9 IN 20 OVERS [Bhagya Disanayake 28, Akash Harishanth 16, Lasan Rashmika 33, Sithira Abhayawardena 16, Isuru Mohottala 10; Yohan Jayaweera 1-30, Mahesh Deepal 1-22, Gihan Gunathilake 2-34, Pasindu Adithya 3-19]

At De Mazenod College grounds:

MAS Active Kreeda won by 7 wickets

REGNIS APPLIANCES 103/9 IN 20 OVERS [Nimesh Madushanka 17, Yasiru Sandaruwan 27, Tharanga Dammika 22; Pasindu Wijesinghe 1-08, Anju Amaradasa 1-24, Chamath Sumiththrarachchi 2-25, Kamesh Piratheepan 3-12]

MAS Active Kreeda 107/3 IN 13.1 OVERS [Adeesha Miyusara 14, Suventhiran Subikaran 20, Pasindu Wijesinghe 49*, Anju Amaradasa 12*; Tharanga Dammmika 2-18, Asela Sanjeewa 1-18]

IFS R&D International by 45 runs

IFS R&D INTERNATIONAL PVT LTD 173/9 IN 20 OVERS [Thilanka Wijerathna 34, Isuru Thilina 36, Kalana Harendra 31, Harsha Rupasinghe 11, Suresh Wickremesinghe 13 *; Roshan Derling 2-38, Mithun Jayawickrema 1-29, Ahamed Rifad 1-31, Sajith Sanjeewa 3-21]

SINGER SRI LANKA ‘B’ 128/8 IN 20 OVERS [Sheyal Imesh 15, Roshan Derling 20, Mithun Jayawickrema 35, Akila Samarakoon 12, Kushmika Raminda 20*, Prabath Kumara 11*; Heshana Weerasuriya 2-30, Thilanka Wijerathna 1-25, Suresh Wickremesinghe 2-21, Isuru Thilina 2-26, Heshan Sandaruwan 1-15]