'Battle of the Babes' put off for April 1 and 2

by S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Corr.

CRICKET: The 54th 'Battle of the Babes' between St. Sylvester's College and Vidyartha College which was scheduled to be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on March 18 and 19 has been put off. This match will be now played on April 1 and 2 at the same venue.

This will also be the first time this 55-year-old cricket fixture will be played out of the City of Kandy. This big match which was called the Battle of the Babes from the 1950's as it was the youngest cricket battle then as both schools were comparatively new to cricket, when compared to the other two big matches in Kandy as they were over 50 years old. This match was first played at Police grounds, Kandy and with the development of the Asgiriya Stadium to make it a Test venue in the 1980's, the venue was shifted to Asgiriya as it had more facilities including a turf wicket.

But with the construction of the Pallekele Cricket Stadium, which was the venue for the World Cup cricket matches played in Kandy, the two school authorities took a decision to host this big match at the new venue.

The Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, D. Somachandra de Silva, speaking to this correspondent during one of the World Cup matches, said that he had instructed to charge a very nominal amount for school matches and the schools should make use of this offer to play their cricket matches here. It is not only international matches, but also the schools and club matches should be played here on other days. The young cricketers should benefit much from it.