Cambrians, Sebastianites keen to produce a result

by Dilwin Mendis - Moratuwa Sports Corr

Battle of the Golds: The 64th 'Battle of the Golds" between Prince of Wales College and St. Sebastian's College will be played at the Tyronne Fernando Stadium on March 7 and 8 and the 29th Limited- over match will be played on 9th March at the same venue.

This big cricket encounter started in 1933 and with two stoppages in the conduct of the match, this will be the 64th encounter. Of the 63 matches played so far, the Cambrians have won six games while the Sebastianites have won three matches. The first victory for the Cambrians was in 1935 under Ernie de Mel and they followed it up with victory in 1936 and 1937 under K.M. Jayasekera. Then in 1955 the Cambrians won under Stanley de Alwis and in 199 they won under Suranjit Mendis and finally under Pemlal Fernando the Cambrianswon won in 1977.

The Sebastiaites recorded their fist win in the series in 1962 under Priyantha Fernando and then in 1966 Sarath Perera - the captain got the Sebs victory and finally Sanitha de Mel St. Sebastian's won in 2011. The Cambrians will be led this year by coloursman Ashen Mendis and the vice-captain will be Suchira Fernando, who is also a colourman. The Cambrians will also have the services of Sri Lanka under 19 skiller and Sunday Observer - Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Kusal Mendis. Anuk Fernando - a member of the Sri Lanka under 19 World Cup squad will captain St. Sebastian's and his deputy will be Luke Jayadeva. Both Kusal Mendis and Anuk Fernando missed several inter-school matches due to the foreign under 19 matches. Though both schools missed their two key players, they have performed well during the season. Special mention must be made of Cambrian Shanuka Dulaj who became the first schoolboy to notch by 1,000 runs for the on-going school cricket season.