An inner look at SACK cricket
Spare a thought for the St. Anthony’s College cricketers who have been dealt a few cruel blows. Over the last two seasons, in particular, they underperformed, so much so that this season they find themselves relegated to Division II.
Rules laid down at the start of the season cannot, and should not, be bent. The Antonians finished in 35th position, with lowly S. de S. Jayasinghe MV behind them. Yet consider three feats. They beat Ananda, Royal, DSS and St. Benedict’s on first innings in away matches. They also had two no decisions against Maris Stella (MS 198-9, SACK 170-4) and Nalanda (NC 341-9, SACK 422-7), once more in away matches. However, they did not have a single outright victory. Ay! There’s the rub!
Take their performance against Trinity, the team ranked Number 2. The Antonians led on the first innings by one run at Asgiriya, and tied the limited overs game at Katugastota. Not bad for a team number 35.
You could call it the ‘unkind cut of all’, but this season they’ve had to postpone three matches, all for want of a cover. In fact, a Colombo team that was travelling up for the match on the day preceding had to be turned back at Yakkala as there was no prospect of play over the next two days. The upshot of it all is that one month or more into the season, they have played only one game – an away one.
It defies belief that Old Boys and past cricketers have not dipped into their pockets to help their old school. In the case of rugby – which probably is more glamorous too much money has been spent for little reward.
One cannot help feeling that the College authorities have not ticked the correct boxes in their search for donors and philanthropists.