Briefly

Liyanage as President

Brig. Parry Liyanage was elected as President of the Lanka Lions Sports Club with Kosala Dissanayake as Deputy President at its annual general meeting held recently.

Air Commodore, J.L.C.Salgado, Brig. Palitha Fernando, Wimal Aluthpatabendi, Mrs. Chadra Wickremaratne and Nilanga Dela Bandara were elected as Executive Vice Presidents.

G.L.S. Perera was elected as Secretary, with Dayaratne Vithanage as Assistant Secretary.

Anura Gamage was elected as Treasurer with Mrs. Menik Samaratunga as Recorder and Sriyantha Dissanayake as Athletic Secretary.

Salmas Trophy soccer

Eight teams have been invited by the Gampola Football League to participate in the SALMAS Trophy tournament to be staged in April at the Weegulawatta ground in Gampola.

The teams invited are: Grand Hotel Nuwara-Eliya, Hyline SC Kandy, Pelicans SC Kurunegala, Kegalle Maya SC, Red Sun SC, Manchester SC, Evershine SC and Young United.

Entries will close on March 10 and the draw will be held on March 19 at the Rest House, Gampola.

Entries will close with Sunil Seenaweera, 158/4, Ambagamuwa Road, Gampola.

Charles Robinson hockey

The Charle's Robinson hockey seven's conducted by the Old Boys' Association of St. Thomas' College Matale Colombo Branch conducted for the 4th consecutive year will be held on Tuesday March 14 at Police Park, Bambalapitiya.

Clubs interested in participating in this championships are requested to contact T.R. Juhary on 590710/501305, 075-523263 or Tissa Etipola 873317, or Jayampathy Perera 607728.

Joint champions

K.Jayatilleka of Weera House and S. Abeyratne of Deera House were selected as joint champions in the boys' under 21 section with P.U. Warnakulasuriya of Weera House as under 21 girls champions at the inter house sports meet of Vidya Dharshana MV held recently.

Soora House with 309 points emerged champions with Deera House second scoring 304 points.

Weera House was placed third with 286 points.

The respective champions: Under 15 Boys - M. N. Samarasinghe (Soora House); Under 15 Girls - U. Avanthi Perera (Soora House); Under 17 Boys - A.B. Wanninayake (Weera House); Under 17 Girls - Nalinda Umanyaga and D.P. Shanila (Weera and Soora House); Under 19 Boys - I. K. Senarathbandara (Weera House); Under 19 Girls - Shanika Dilrukshi (Weera House).-

S.S. Samarasinghe Nochchiyagama Corr.

International School cager

The 6th Annual Inter-International Schools basketball championships organised by the British School in Colombo will be held from Saturday March 4 to 7 at the Senior School courts at Etul- Kotte.

The Schools partipating are: Colombo International School, Gateway International School, Asian International School, Lyceum International School, Wycherly International School, Alethea International School and British School in Colombo.

Moore Shield hockey

Army beat Police by 2 goals to 1 to secure their 44th Moore Shield semi-final berth and will meet Air Force who beat CH & FC by 4 goals to nil at the Astro Turf at Reid Avenue.

The first semi-final will be played on Saturday between Youngsters and Navy at 3 p.m. at the Astro Turf while Army will meet Air Force in the second semi-final at 4.45 p.m.

The final will be played on Sunday March 5 at 4.30 p.m.

Cavaliers win

Lanka Cavaliers outplayed Negombo Veterans by 10 wickets in their limited overs cricket match played at the BOI grounds at Katunayake.

The Negombo Veterans led by Ranjith Samarasekera were able to total 96 for 8 in their alloted 35 overs.

This match was sponsored by Galison Motor Traders, Negombo.

Negombo Veterans 96 for 8 in 35 overs.

T. Dias 17 not out, Bernard Wijetunga 15, Lal Perera 15, Eustead Fernado 14, Sherad de Mel 10, Basil Perera 2 for 8, Keethi Gunaratne, S. Illangaratnam, Daya Sirisena, Chitral Mendis and Mervyn Fernando captured a wicket each.

Lanka Cavaliers - 108 for no wickets in 18 overs.

Damian Fernando 39 retired, Mervyn Fernando 21 retired, Chitral Mendis 16 retired, C.P.P. Raj 15 retired, Dushan Soza 9 not out, Daya Sirisena 8 not out.

SJPMV champs

Sri Jayewardenepura MV won the cricket tournament with Ananda Sastralaya Kotte as runners-up in the St. John's College Nugegoda 66th year celebrations held last month.

Kalubowila MV won the softball cricket tropy with St. John's Nugegoda as runners-up, while Royal won the TT title for boys with St John's Nugegoda as runners-up and Visakha Colombo winning the girls' TT title with St. Joseph's BMV Nugegoda runners-up.

In Badminton, S.Thomas emerged under 19 champions with Ananda runners-up and St John's Nugegoda under 16 champions with Piliyandala Central runners-up.

Visakha won the girls' under 19 and 16 titles with Sirimavo BMV and Anula BMV Nugegoda runners-up respectively.

St. John's Nugegoda A & B teams won the under 15 and under 19 boys' title with their B teams as runners-up, while Anula BMV won both the under 15 and 19 titles with Holy Cross, Gampaha as runners-ups.

Trinity vs St. Anthony's

Weeraratne takes on the Eagles

Cricket is in essence a team game. However it is not unknown and uncommon for one player in the team, by dint of personal performance and stature, to tower over the rest and dominate the team performance.

The 94th Trinity-St. Anthony's Big Match that takes place at Katugastota on the 10th and 11th could well be another instance of the fact mentioned above. Trinity's skipper Kaushalya Weeraratne, a Sri Lanka Under-19 player holds the key to his side's performance.

The Anthonians have good cause to accord the Trinity skipper considerable respect as he made a smashing 143 in last year's game. The savage of that innings would have made an indelible impression on the minds of his Anthonian opponents.

Following on last weekend against Royal, Weeraratne once again turned on the heat with a match saving unbeaten 140. Quite obviously, Weeraratne is in the pink of cricketing health right now and the Anthonians would surely have marked him down for early extinction. On his feats of derring-do hang the chances of an otherwise lack-lustre Trinity team.

Roshan Fernando and Chandran open the innings. Solid players both, they would do well to lay a solid platform for the batsmen to come. Imbuldeniya, the vice captain, Rajaratne, Pasan Weeraratne (the brother of the skipper), Rodrigo and Munaweera can help to swell the score.

Weeraratne plays a pivotal role as chief leather-launcher. Selvakumar, the off-spinner, bowls a tidy line and has been among the wickets. Spinner Mazumi adds some variety to the attack.

All in all, the Trinity team is overly reliant on the performance of the skipper. If he fires, they do, too. If not, they could struggle.

The Anthonians, sans a towering personality, have a slightly more impressive look. Led by the youthful Nafeez, Nizam (who, by the way, has a couple of years of school cricket ahead of him), the Anthonian forte was in their batting. Nafees, an attacking left hander, has topped the 500 run mark, and has a top score of 83. Prasad Ranawaka and Samson Burke (the latter a nephew of the illustrious Burkes, Franklin and Ralston) have also gone past the 500 mark. Ranawaka has a lot of staying power and concentration. Burke is a sixpolar striker of the ball and plays his shots boldly. Others who could be relied on to swell the score are Kasun Jayaratne, Nipuna Ratnayake, Susantha Basnayake and Tyronne de Silva.

Fonseka and Basnayake will handle the new ball with Jayaratne lending some support. Nafeez and Burke (off spin) and Ranawaka (left arm leg spin) add muscle to the attack.

Both teams have succeeded in remaining unbeaten this season. Yet both sides have not been all that impressive in the run-up to the Big Match. With neither side having a clear-cut advantage over the other, a draw seems very much in prospect. Taking the fast outfield into consideration, fans could be in for a rather heavy-scoring game.

For the statistically-minded, the Trinitians have won 22 games and the Anthonians 13, with 47 matches having been drawn. Trinity last won in the late eighties, courtesy an overly generous declaration by the Anthonians. St. Anthony's have to thank Muttiah Muralitharan, who went on to achieve international fame, for their thirteenth triumph. - Aubrey Kuruppu

New rules to end Joe-Pete 'drought'

By Champika Fernando

New rules have been introduced to break the deadlock in the St. Joseph's vs St. Peter's Inter-School 'Big' match at the Saravanamuttu Stadium next weekend.

It was as far back 1980 the Joes Peterite cricket extravaganza had an outright result where Joes gained a comfortable win. However anticipating to end the long drought both schools will battle under new rules and regulations this time. The first inning is limited to 60 overs for both sides and the second inning will be played as usual.

Both teams are playing equally well in inter school matches having obtained three outright victories so far are the favourites to win the encounter.

Sri Lanka's leading run getter at the recently ended U-19 Cricket World Cup Ian Daniel leads the Joes while Chrishantha Peries a leading wicket taker for this season leads the Peterites. Daniels who missed a few matches due to the U-19 World Cup has so far scored 750 runs incuding three centuries and four half centuries with the highest score of 111. Dilanka Perera who leads the team in the absence of Daniel will support his senior partner.

Peries who is leading the Peterites has so far taken 85 wickets and has scored over 250 runs. Kuashalya Lokuarachchi a brilliant all-rounder in the Under 19 Youth World Cup is undoubted an asset to the Peterites who has so far scored over 400 runs. He also has captured 25 wickets this seasion.

Upali Ahangama the coach of the Joes said they are expecting a result this time and they are sure of winning the match. "We have a good team and Daniel is in good form. It depends on how the captain performs in the match", he added.

But Roger Wijesooriya coach of St. Peter's said that they are the favourite this time to win the match. "Unlike the Joes whose team depends on batting, our team depends on the bowlers. Captain Peries is in superb form at the moment," he concluded.

St. Joseph's - Ian Daniel (Capt), Gavin Van Sanden, Dhanuka Pathirana,

Suren Perera, Anuk de Wijeyratne, Senaka Rupasinghe, Dilshan Perumal, Sandesh Jayakody, Asanga Fernando, Pradeepan Anthony, Shanka Soysa, Gayan Paulis, Desmond Morrel, Asanka Dissanayake, Deshan Joseph Perera.

St. Peter's - Chrishantha Peries (Capt), Mahela Perera (v. capt), Kaushalya Lokuarachchi, Jehan Jayasuriya, Shehan Fernando, Malin Silva, Amesh Dissanayake, Anuruddha Gallage, Ishan Ratnayake, Thushantha Samarasekera, Nadhula D.S. Wijeyaratne, Arjuna Gurumanna, Clement Fernando. Roshan Fernando, Ruchira Perera, Malsiri Samarasekera, Warren Pietersz, Denver Forx.

Rowing facilities for St. Joseph's

St. Joseph's College, Colombo 10 was established in the year 1896 and since then it has come all the way to become one of the leading schools in Sri Lanka, which is well-known for its academic and sports achievements in the past and present. The school has produced many fine sportsmen & sports teams excelled almost in all school sports events and the Josephian swimming pool also one of the first school swimming pools built by one of our distinguished group of Past Rectors who spared no pains in putting the school on excellent footing.

The Josephian swimming pool was opened on 30 July 1952 and this water sport got a real fillip by then Rector, Rev. Fr. Peter A. Pillai who was at the helm. He developed the swimming pool to the highest international standards and it became a boon not only to the students of St Joseph's College, but to the other schoolchildren as well. Present Josephians have around 40 sports teams in varions age groups in different sports in College.

Thinking on these lines a group of young, loyal, dedicated, service oriented five Old Josephians banded together and took a Herculian task of establishing a full fledged Rowing club facility for their alma-mater & for the future generation. With the blessings of present Rector, Rev. Fr. Victor Silva organising committee has established a 60 ft concrete pier & 40 feet Turf and a modern Boat house, by the side of the picturesque Beira Lake, adjacent to the Josephian Sports complex and imported 5 Brand new Rowing Boats from Hong Kong & Hungary, at a cost of Rs. 1.2 million. A 60 feet Pier has been sponsored by Colombo International Nautical & Engineering College and 4 Boats have been sponsored by old Josephians namely Mr. Ranjith Page, past students of class of 1971, old Joes of U.A.E & generous donations collected by the Rowing club organising committee members. Sri Lanka Land Reclamation Corporation has launched an ambitious project to de-silt and aerate the Beira Lake to improve its looks and functions. Very soon Beira Lake will be a water garden in the city of Colombo with much water sports activities.

At present Josephians practice and row at the Colombo Rowing Club and very soon it will be shifted to a Josephian rowing facility. The Rowing team is coached by dedicated competent two Old Josephians, Mr. Yohan Thurainayagam & Mr. Johann Corera, all encouragement, direction and financial support had been rendered to the Joes by Rector, Rev. Fr. Victor Silva and Prefect of games, Rev. Fr. Ranjith Andradi.

At the 16th National Rowing championship Regetta, S.J.C. crew become runners-up in Junior boys' pairs and schoolboys sculler events. S.J.C. crew consists of Eranga Muhandiramge (Stroke), Nilshan Fonseka (Bow), Joel Wickramasinghe (Cox) and Anish de Almeida (Sculler).

At the recently concluded 17th National championship Regetta 2000 on the Beira Lake Anish de Almeida was runner up in Junior sculling & Nalin Perera was the runner up in schoolboys' sculling.

Josephian crew consists of Joel Wickramasinghe (Bow), Chanaka Perera (Stroke) and Dineshan Paikianathan (Cox) emerged overall, champions in under 16 boys' pairs event.

All these achievements were possible due to the dedicated untiring efforts of the Josephian Rowing Club organising committee consisting of Gilbert Muhandiramge, Yohan Thurainayagam, Harindra Perera, Tony Abeysena and Johann Corera. St. Josephs' College Rowing Club will be ceremonially opened on February 29, 2000, at 5.00 p.m. by the chief guest Mr. Lucky Wickramanayake, chairman Ceyline group of Companies, a premier shipping company in Sri Lanka. - (Gilbert S. Muhandiramge, Rowing Club Organizing Committee of S.J.C.)

An exceptional situation: Bloomfield

Since there have been several comments made in the media regarding the fact that there was no play on the final day of the Premier League Division 1 match between Bloomfield C&AC and Kurunegala YCC and the action taken by the Tournament Committee of the Board of Control of Cricket in Sri Lanka following this incident, Bloomfield C&AC would like to place on record the relevant facts and it's position.

The Premier League Division 1 match between Bloomfield C&AC and Kurunegala YCC was scheduled to be played at the Welagedara Stadium, Kurunegala from December 17 to 19.

On December 16 the Bloomfield C&AC team travelled to Kurunegala. There was no play on the 16th due to rain. The match was played on the 17th.

On the 18th night, the players and coach of the Bloomfield C&AC team learnt of the terrorist bomb attacks on the political rallies held at the Colombo Town Hall and Ja-Ela and that, a large number of people had been killed in these bomb attacks and that, Her Excellency the President, some Cabinet Ministers and others had been gravely injured.

Despite the shock and distress caused to the players by this tragic news, the players reported to the Welagedera Stadium on the morning of December with the intention of playing the match, if circumstances permitted.

However, after the team reported to the grounds they were informed that a curfew had been enforced in the Colombo and Gampaha Districts as there was a possibility of civil unrest.

The majority of the players of the Bloomfield C&AC reside in Colombo and its suburbs and they were naturally very concerned about the safety of their families and were apprehensive that there would be, both, extensions of the curfew to other areas and the continuation of curfew over a period of time, and that they would be unable to return to their families.

In these circumstances, the captain of the Bloomfield C&AC, in consultation with the coach and the cricket committee of the club, was of the view that, the situation justified the postponement of the match since this was an exceptional situation and since it was very clear, that a national crisis had occurred and since a postponement was advisable for security reasons.

The Tournament Rules and Regulations of the Board of Control provide for the postponement of a match in such circumstances.

Therefore, the captain of the Team in consultation with the coach, discussed this matter with the Umpires and the Kurunegala YCC Team and the Coach contacted the Chairman of the Tournament Committee and appraised him of the situation and sought permission to go back to Colombo. After considering the matter, the Chairman of the Tournament Committee indicated that the team may return to Colombo and that extra days would be allocated to complete the match.

Thereafter the captain of the Bloomfield C&AC, recorded in writing the reasons for the team having to leave Kurunegala in the aforesaid exceptional situation and handed a copy of this letter to the relevant authorities on the Grounds. The two Umpires signed this letter. Thereafter, the Bloomfield C&AC Team left Kurunegala for Colombo.

Neither the Umpires nor the Kurunegala YCC nor the official of the Board who was informed of the above decision indicated any disagreement with this decision that the match could not be played on December 19.

However, an inquiry into this incident was subsequently held by the Board of Control on December 28, 1999 and on December 30 the Board of Control informed the Bloomfield C&AC that a penalty of 18 points to be deducted in both the Preliminary Round and the Plate Championship and a two match suspension of the captain had been imposed on Bloomfield C&AC for not having played on December 19.

Bloomfield C&AC has protested that a punishment was not warranted since the club had taken due steps and obtained permission to leave the grounds and that, in any event, the purported punishment was excessively harsh.

Letter to the Sports Editor

Thomian Pool

I wish to commend your report on the "Thomian Pool Completed At Last" in The Sunday Times of February 27, 2000. In my view the piece was balanced and gave the Thomians a fair and accurate account, and the correct perspective as to what led to deploying incorrect specifications, thus incurring unnecessary expenditure in restoring the late Dr. R. L. Hayman's gift of this great swimming facility to our Alma Mater.

In this respect I would appreciate your adding to your report by recognizing some of those who contributed substantially to this effort. Architect Mohamed Jabir Junaid, apprenticing at that time, gave much of his time and a perception of an architectural concept as to how this swimming pool should look like. To authenticate this concept, Architect T. Senaka Peiris lent his architectural expertise which were in draft when sent to the Board of Governors for approval. University of Moratuwa who did the soil test and a host of others gave of their time, expertise and effort to this project before the BOG "highjacked" it. The STC OBA Executive Committees of 1997/98 and 1998/99 must also be commended for their wisdom in realizing and accepting the challenge to restore Dr. Hayman's magnanimous and invaluable gift to S. Thomians' before it was lost due to neglect.

The STC OBA Sports Committees under the Chairmanships of Asanga Seneviratne and Michael J. de Zoysa must go on record for having taken the challenge to ensure that the final product of a modernized and internationalized swimming pool was completed, restoring Dr. Hayman's memory by restructuring some of the old sections of the swimming pool.

In the article you have quoted Saro Weerasuriya, the Consultant Structural Engineer stating that 'the pool was constructed on the advice of several consultants who are Old Boys puzzles me. If this was the case where did the specifications go wrong and unnecessarily the huge expenditure in excess of thirty-five million rupees incurred in this respect. I rest my case and Esto Perpetua!

C. Vijitha Fernando
Mount Lavinia.

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