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| Sunday, 09 March 2003 |
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S. Thomas' are 'underdogs' - Warden Ponniah Warden of S. Thomas' Dr. David Ponniah, himself a cricketer in his day, spoke glowingly of the performances of arch rivals Royal in the run up to the 124th three-day 'Battle of the Blues' cricket encounter that will be played at the SSC grounds on March 13, 14 and 15. The S. Thomas' College Warden was in the company of Royal Principal H. L. B. Gomes and the Royal-Thomian joint committee at the press conference held last Tuesday at Tharanga Terrace of Hotel Continental to spell out details regarding the upcoming big happening. "I must compliment the Royal team for their fine performances this season. We (referring to S. Thomas') are the 'underdogs' but I hope our boys will perform well so that the match will be interesting," added Warden Ponniah. He further said that the Royal-Thomian is probably the highlight of any calendar year and the two schools have had cordial relations over the years and this showpiece in the sports calendar has brought in Dialog to support the two schools. This is the third year that Dialog is sponsoring the match. Mr. Nushard Perera - General Manager - Sales and Marketing of Dialog, who 'stood in' for MTN Networks Chief Executive Officer - Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya who had to attend to urgent business matters, said that Dialog had no hesitation when the joint committee of the Royal-Thomian cricket encounter approached his company to sponsor the match. "I am a Royalist and Dr. Hans a Thomian and we have had no problems whatsoever and when it comes to Royal-Thomian matters the two of us hit-it-off well," Nushard Perera said. He said that this is the third year that Dialog will be sponsoring the three-day game and they will also sponsor the one-day match on March 22 which will be a day-night affairs with the players attired in coloured clothing. He paid a rich compliment to both Royal and S. Thomas' when he said that his company has had no problems whatsoever with Royal Principal H. L. B. Gomes and Thomian Warden David Ponniah when drawing up plans for the match. "Royal-Thomian is something special and we can sponsor without fear. A lot of people have put in hard work to get the match to the high level at which it is played and we will be there in the future too," Nushard Perera assured. He further said that this year is the prelude to the 125th encounter and a lots of things have been planned and match is to be made the talk of the town. The over-rate for the three-day match has been increased. For the first two days, there will be 100 overs bowled and there will be 105 overs bowled on the final day, light and weather permitting of course. Tryphon Mirando who is now a veteran in the joint committee said that the Royal-Thomian encounter is always played in the best traditions of the game. This is the 124th encounter and is the oldest match in this part of the world which has an unbroken run from 1880. There is an encounter between St. Peter's College and Prince Alfred College, Adelaide Australia which claims to be the oldest, but their series has been broken during the World War II. During the first World War and second World War, cricket in countries such as England and Australia came to a virtual standstill. However, in Sri Lanka, nothing so far has been able to stall this great encounter over the years. Besides the three-day game, plans are underway for the staging of the three-day game to be played under lights at the Premadasa Stadium. Plans are underway too for next year's historic 125th encounter and though details were not revealed, some exciting moments can be expected with a wonderful joint committee in operations. (A.C. de S.) |
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