Teams enter ‘bio bubble’
Sandra de Zoysa, the Group Chief Customer Officer, Dialog Axiata PLC (3rd from right), presents the sponsorship to V.M.S Gunatilake (2nd from left), Acting Principal of Royal College and Rev. Marc Bilimoria (3rd from left), the Warden, S. Thomas College, at the launch of this year's edition of Roy-Tho. Others in the picture (from left) are Prasanna Fernando, Co-Chairman of Royal-Thomian Joint Match Committee, Navin Pieris, Vice President, Enterprise Business and Large Enterprise Sales, Dialog Axiata PLC and Roshan Adams, Co-Chairman, Royal-Thomian Joint Match Committee
With the purpose of conducting a secure and strict big match encounter this year, Royal College and S. Thomas’ College cricket teams have already entered the ‘bio bubble’ 14 days before the 142nd Battle of the Blues to be played at the Sooriyawewa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota.
The S. Thomas’ contingent entered the ‘bio bubble’ a day following the official announcement of the 142nd Roy-Tho was made at the BMICH Lotus Auditorium, where none of the team representatives besides the head prefects of both schools, were present to deliver the D.S. Senanayake Memorial Shield.
The Royal squad entered the ‘bio bubble’ on Friday evening and members of both teams, including players, coaching staff and other officials, will undergo PCR tests during the period of 14 days. If everything falls in line and works out accordingly, this will be the very first occasion that the Roy-Tho big match moves out of Colombo as the three-day game is scheduled to begin on May 6 and ends on 8 behind closed doors.
“We are highly concerned about the continuity of this encounter as much as about safety and security of the players, team officials, support staff, match officials, and other members of the joint organising committee who will be present at the venue in Sooriyawewa. All of them will come under the ‘bio secure environment’ (BSE) and the game will be played without spectators and fanfare,” Prasanna Fernando, the Co-Chairman of the Royal-Thomian Joint Match Committee, stated.
Due to the prevailing pandemic, which has now re-emerged in a strong manner, Sri Lanka’s blue-riband annual cricket encounter will break from tradition and played for the first time in its 142-year-old illustrious history, out of Colombo. The teams, coaches and support staff along with umpires and match officials will follow BSE protocols, in line with the COVID-19 health and safety guidelines under the supervision of Southern Province and Hambantota Regional health services.
Sooriyawewa will be the ninth venue to host this famed encounter and the first outside Colombo. Following the three-day encounter, the limited over match for Mustangs Trophy will be played in a T20 format at the same venue on May 10.
Spearheaded by elegant stroke-maker Ahan Wickramasinghe, Royal remain unbeaten this season with their stunning all-rounding performance and are determined to reclaim the shield. In contrast, S. Thomas’, led by all-rounder Shalin de Mel, will endeavour to retain the coveted shield for the third consecutive year.
Back in 1880, for the first time, these traditional rivals met on field at Galle Face Green. Ever since they played this annual tradition of excellence uninterruptedly except for the stall in World War II, which makes this the second longest uninterrupted cricket series played in the world.
The tally between both contenders stands as 35-all, while 71 matches have ended in draws. Royal recorded their last win in 2016, while S. Thomas’ secured their last victory in 2019, after 12 years. The shield remains in Mt. Lavinia ever since.
Dialog Axiata PLC will sponsor the 142nd Roy-Tho encounter for the 13th consecutive year. Elephant House, John Keells and Prima have come forward as food, beverage and ice cream partners along with the sponsorship of Kings Hospital. The cricket kits for both the teams will be provided by the retired Maj. Gen. Muhammad Saad Khattak, the Pakistan High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, under the decision of Pakistan government.
Revitalising this renowned legacy, Dialog Axiata will perpetuate their pledge of contributing Rs 1,000 for every run scored and Rs 10,000 for every wicket that falls, under the theme of ‘Play for a Cause’, which will be used to donate cricket gears to deserving schools in the country selected by the administrations of the two schools. Since this stared in 2015, they have donated Rs 6, 151, 000 worth of cricket gear.
Both encounters – the 142nd Battle of the Blues and the 45th Mustang Trophy — will be broadcast live on Dialog Television channel number 72, and will also be available via live stream on the ThePapare.com and the Dialog Viu app.