Boys will be boys ….but big match rivalry/revelry !
View(s):The Big Match season has been off and swinging (quite literally) these past few weeks with schools reviving long-held rivalries on the cricket pitch. However, have the activities surrounding these traditional competitions, such as drunken scuffles and trffic-halting cycle parades, now gotten out of hand?
Pix by Amila Gamage
 You can’t really stop the chaos before and during a Big Match. People just have to tell their friends to control themselves. Most people are drunk and they don’t intend to make a mistake but in that state they think people are insulting them and their school. - Anish Samidon (Student) |
 Big Match revelry is a tradition which should carry on with. But things like fighting should be stopped because I really don’t think they can be considered a tradition at all and they shouldn’t be. All they do is ruin the reputations of schools. - Anjana Jayaratne (Student) |
 A Big Match is all about fun, and though it is nice to see the matches the things happening away from the competition are also a major part of the action. But I definitely think things are now getting a bit out of hand, with the growing numbers of students. So there should be some rules but it’s tough to see what they could be. - Dinesh Kumar (Private Employee) |
 In a Big Match people fight and everything but afterwards they are friends. If authorities want to prevent things from getting out of hand they can add a few more policemen but that’s about all they can do. - Hasara Liyanage (Student) |
 They should be able to have fun to a certain limit. The problem is though you can’t bring rules and regulations into things like these because you have to maintain a tradition even in pre-Big Match activities. - Miyuru Ramanayake (Student) |
 Times have changed and they should find out the real reasons things go out of control. It may be a very personal issue, and not even a rivalry between schools. I think guidance should come from the teacher-in-charge, who should create a friendly atmosphere within the game. The coach and teacher-in-charge play important roles in this case. - R. Munneswaram (Accounts Officer) |
 I think the problem is that there are a lot of people with a political background getting involved and even the police can’t control these people, so it’s not like those days. The police should link with school administrators and from a school-level itself you can start giving out warnings. - Sameera Nissanka (Private sector employee) |
 There should be some controls but they should be allowed to have some fun, after all it’s a Big Match and it’s once a year and they should have some fun but in a controlled manner. - Shehani Gunasekera (Corporate Employee) |
 Big matches are played only once a year so the boys and players should enjoy themselves. At the same time some discipline should be maintained, but it’s very difficult to come up with ways to do this. - Frank Cooray (St. Sebastian’s Master-in-Charge of cricket) |
 Things like fights happen on and off but that’s just part of the Big Match tradition. The problem is when people get seriously injured. But if you get police and officials all over the place I really don’t see how you can have any fun. - Kasun Panditharatne (Student) |
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