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| Sunday, 22 February 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Joes, Petes keen to end stalemate of drawn encounters by A. C. DE SILVA Lalith de S. Wijeyeratne - a former top grade cricketer at St. Joseph's, now in charge of development of the game at his old school, seemed keen to find out somewhat of a magic formula to end the stalemate of draws that has afflicted the Josephian-Peterite cricket match which enters its 70th year this month. The match is sponsored by Dialog, GSM for the fourth successive year as main sponsor and Ceylon Cold Stores as Food and Drinks sponsor. "There has been 25 years of continuous drawn games and we must try and change the rules to achieve positive results without allowing this game to drift away." Lalith de S. Wijeyeratne said at a press briefing held on Tuesday at Bonjean Hall, St. Joseph's College to inform the media about the upcoming match. The 70th 'Battle of the Saints' encounter between St. Joseph's and St. Peter's will this year be played a bit earlier than usual on February 27 and 28 at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium. The game is played for the Rev. Fr. Maurice Legoc Memorial Trophy with play scheduled to start each day at 9.30 a.m. The match was not played in 1942 and 1943. The series started in 1933 has 11 wins for the Joes and 7 wins for the Peterites with 51 drawn encounters. St. Joseph's last won the 'big match' in 1972 under Rohan Fernando and St. Peter's last win came in 1978 under Suraj Abeysekera. There is a gap of 25 years since the last win was registered and this has caught the attention of both schools and their supporters as well. The authorities have tried out various formulae in the past in order to make the game both interesting and result-oriented, but without much success. However, all concerned hope that something for the better will take place this year. The first innings of both teams will be limited to 60 overs and a minimum of 105 overs must be bowled on the first day and 110 overs on the second day including the 20 mandatory overs which will commence at 4.35 p.m. on the second day. The side batting second can be asked to follow-on at the end of 60 overs if they are behind by 100 runs though they are not all out. The umpires will be requested to be strict on wide deliveries and negative aspects of play and take appropriate action. Fr. Gabriel, Vice-Rector of St. Joseph's College, thanked both Dialog, GSM and Ceylon Cold stores for their generous sponsorship for the match. "Whenever we needed help and came to you, you never let us down. Now, you not only support us but support other schools as well and that's good for the game. We have made some adjustments to the playing conditions to make the game interesting and result-oriented," and hoped that everyone will have a good time at the match. Mr. Nushad Perera - General Manager, Sales and Marketing of Dialog, GSM said that his establishment is supporting cricket at school level as they believe that supporting the sportsmen of the future, today would effectively nurture the next generation of sports stars. He said that his establishment came forward to sponsor the match not with the idea of gaining something out of the match, but with the idea of helping the sportsmen. He said long term commercial sponsorship was becoming increasingly significant in uplifting Sri Lankan sports to internationally competitive levels. Speaking specifically of Dialog GSM's plans for the 'Big Match' season, he said: "We have plans to enhance the experience of the school cricket season by creating an atmosphere of excitement, not just among the relevant schools, but also among the general public." Both St. Joseph's and St. Peter's have had a fair share of success in the inter-school cricket season this year. St. Joseph's are current table leaders with 4 outright wins - over Royal, St. Benedict's, Maris Stella and De Mazenod. The Josephians, however, fared poorly in their last game against D. S. Senanayake College on their grounds and lost the match by eight wickets. St. Joseph's made 173 and 108, while D. S. Senanayake College made 222 and 63 for 2 wickets. St. Peter's, on the other hand, have three outright wins - against Maris Stella, Sri Jayawardenapura MV and Nalanda, while they lost to Ananda by an innings. The chief guest at the match will be the Josephian stalwart of the past Harold de Andrado. |
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