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| Sunday, 13 March 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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by A. C. de Silva Another 'Battle of the Blues' has come and gone. Though the celebrations this year in the 126th encounter were curtailed due to the tsunami. Old friends met to talk about their schooldays and hoped for better things to come. This is more than a mere cricket match, that is cherished by Royalists and Thomians for generations to come. This match has withstood the test of time and though, there were many obstacles like the World War and other calamities in recent times, the match has come through with the hope that there will be better times when the match will be played next year. The question has been asked many times as to why masters of the two schools played alongside schoolboys in the inaugural Royal-Thomian match in 1879. The Royalists and Thomians must thank an Englishman, Ashley Walker who came to Sri Lanka (Ceylon as we were then known) and took up duties as Senior Assistant Master of The Academy (Royal College now). He was a cricket fanatic and played for Cambridge University in the famous Oxford - Cambridge matches from 1864 to 1866 and was awarded the 'Blue' - He later on played for Yorkshire in the County Championships. The Academy was situated on San Sebastian Hill in the Pettah. It is said that at The Academy, no student who played cricket was punished by Principal Ashley Walker for being slack in his work. Ashley Walker captained The Academy, as Royal was then known, and beat S. Thomas' by 51 runs. Walker, according to reports had a match haul of 14-wickets - seven in each innings and the Thomians were shot out for 41 and 37 in the two innings. The Academy got 83 and 51 in the first and second innings. The masters too participated in the match. On the Thomian side was Rev. Falkner and Mayrick - the Sub Warden, both being long-bearded men. With no untoward incidents in the first game (the presence of the masters of the two schools may well have kept mischief-makers away in 1979), the stage was set for the glorious 'Big Match' to start with only boys on show from 1880. The presence of the masters instilled discipline among the boys! So, the first official game in the series was played at Galle Face cricket grounds on October 29 and 30 in 1880. The Academy won this first official game too, this time by 62 runs, getting 110 and 35 while S. Thomas' got 59 and 24. Though the Thomians were an experienced side, they simply collapsed in both innings. Five 'ducks' in the Thomian first innings created somewhat of an early record which the Thomians would like to forget. So, The Academy who batted first, made 110 and fared poorly in their second innings and were shot out for 35 runs. If the Thomian first innings batting display was poor, then the second innings can be considered as disastrous and appalling as they were shot out for just 24 with skipper McDonnell, Ellawela and C. H. de Saram collecting a 'apir' - another record that the Thomians would not like recalling. While the low scores seemed to be the pattern in the early matches it has also been mentioned that in the good old days, all the runs had to be run as boundaries were not in vogue. If Royal's Principal, Ashley Walker gave the lead with a match haul of 14 wickets in the 'trial' run in 1879, then Royal skipper J. W. de Silva emulated this feat with a haul of 14 wickets. Royal made 110 and 15 in the two innings while S. Thomas' made 59 and 24 in the two innings. So, the interest caught on with the passing years and it spread even to Parliament. The first Prime Minister of Ceylon, D. S. Senanayake and his son Dudley - the second P.M. played for S. Thomas' in their early days and for Royal former President J. R. Jayewardene and one-time Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala had their fling with Royal. The interest of the match was still alive with these gentlemen that even after they entered Parliament they were very much with the game when the match came around each year. |
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