Dialog powers 141st Royal-Thomian ‘Battle of the Blues’
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(from left)L Thevindu Senaratne (Captain, Royal College), Prasanna Fernando (Co-Chairman Royal-Thomian Match Committee), B.A. Abeyratne (Principal, Royal College), Amali Nanayakkara (Group Chief Marketing Officer, Dialog Axiata PLC), Asanga Perera (Acting Warden, S. Thomas’ College), Navin Pieris (Vice President, Enterprise Business and Large Enterprise Sales, Dialog Axiata PLC), Mahesh Nanayakkara (Co-Chairman, Royal-Thomian Match Committee), Thevin Eriyagama (Captain, S. Thomas’ College)
Sri Lanka’s premier boys schools Royal College Colombo and S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia will battle it out once again for the 141st uninterrupted occasion for the blue ribbon cricket encounter, the ‘Battle of the Blues’ played for the prestigious Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake Memorial Shield, from 12th to 14th March, 2020, at the S.S.C Grounds, Colombo.
In the 2020 edition of ‘Battle of the Blues’, powered by Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, Dialog Axiata PLC, the boys from Mt. Lavinia will be led by all-rounder Thevin Eriyagama , whilst the lads from Reid Avenue will be playing under the captaincy of Thevindu Senarathne.
‘The Royal- Thomian’, has a rich and colourful history spanning across 140 years and is also the second longest uninterrupted cricket series played in the world, second only to the annual encounter played between St. Peters College, Adelaide and Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, Australia, that began just a year earlier and the Australia vs England Ashes Series just 02 years before.
In 1880, the first match in which only the boys took part was played on Galle Face Green, the present location of the Taj Samudra Hotel. This was the start to the centenary series. Both teams are said to have rowed their boats across Beira Lake to play the match.
The playing fields of the ‘Roy – Tho’ has the distinction of producing cricketers who later became eminent heads of state, with St. Thomas’ producing the father of the nation, Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake MP (1901-1902) and his son, Hon. Dudley Senanayake MP (1927-1929) as Prime Ministers of Ceylon, while Royal, produced Rt. Hon. (General) Sir John Kotelawala MP (1914-1915) as Prime Minister and the first Executive President of Sri Lanka, the late J. R. Jayewardene (1925).
The tally between the two schools at present stands at 35 all, with the highly-debated match in 1885, where Royal College was all out for 09 runs with no play on the second day is considered a win by S. Thomas’ and considered a draw by Royal as shown by the respective souvenir books of the two schools. The Shield at present sits as the crown jewel amongst the silverware in the Warden’s trophy cabinet at S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia, after putting up a superb performance in 2019 under the captaincy of Sithara Hapuhinna, which will be challenged by a determined Royal XI, this year. The boys from Reid Avenue last won the coveted shield under stewardship of Geeshanth Paditharatne in 2016.
In 2019, on the 140th edition of the Royal-Thomian, Dialog rekindled a long and successful partnership with Sri Lanka’s Blue-Ribbon Big Match, The Battle of the Blues. The 141st edition of the Royal-Thomian will be the twelfth year that the match is sponsored by Dialog. Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, Dialog Axiata has also made a pledge to contribute Rs. 1,000 for every run scored and 10,000 rupees for every wicket that fell. Last year’s exciting encounter contributed Rs. 1,166,000 to the ‘Play for a Cause’ pledge. The proceedings were directed in consultation with the Principal of Royal College and the Warden of S. Thomas’ College to support and empower selected deserving schools. Since the inception of the ‘Play for a Cause’ pledge, Rs. 5,143,000 worth of Cricket gear was donated to ten deserving schools.
Played in the highest tradition of excellence, the two schools have a formed a bond of mutual respect, camaraderie, sportsmanship and friendly adversaries on and off the field, which has stood for almost one and a half centuries. As remarked by a yesteryear Principal of Royal College, “There is no Royal without S. Thomas’ and no S. Thomas’ without Royal.”
Dialog Axiata is the proud sponsor of the Sri Lanka National Cricket, Rugby, Volleyball and Netball teams. The Company also has a close association with the President’s Gold Cup volleyball, National Junior and Senior Netball tourneys, Club Rugby, Premier Football, Schools’ Cricket, Junior Volleyball and Paralympic sports – by powering the Army Para Games, National Para Games and the Sri Lankan contingent to the Olympic and World Paralympic Games.
Floreat / Esto Perpetua