St. Benedict’s and Wesley continue annual cricket encounter
The two captains – Linal Subasinghe of Wesley and Chamath Chathurya of St. Benedict’s with their respective principals Avanka Fernando (L) and Rev. Bro. Dr. Pubudu Rajapaksha (R) with the Cartman Cup and Luke Shield
St. Benedict’s College and Wesley College announced the continuation of the Cartman Cup and Luke Shield annual 1st XI cricket encounter between both schools. The teams first met on a cricket pitch back in 1896 and the encounter celebrates this 127-year legacy. The two-day encounter for the Cartman Cup will be played on March 17 and 18 at the P. Sara Oval, while the one-day encounter for the Luke Shield, will be played on March 25 at the SSC grounds. Both matches will be organised and hosted by the Bens-Wesley Joint Committee, along with the patronage of both schools.
After a successful inaugural encounter held in April 2021 at St. Benedict’s ground in Kotahena which incidentally was one of the very few encounters played that year amidst the Covid pandemic restrictions and without any spectators, in March 2022 the Cartman Cup was played with limited spectator participation at Wesley ground. In both years, the match lived up to its expectations as both schools played some entertaining cricket though none could lift the majestic trophy which is on offer for an outright win.
The one-day Luke Shield encounter which was to be held in 2021, could not be held due to the lockdown in Colombo. However, both schools hosted the inaugural encounter in April 2022 at the P. Sara Oval, which St. Benedict’s managed to win. The key highlight of the last two year’s Bens-Wesley encounter was the donation made by both schools, together with the sponsors, towards a charitable cause. In 2021 it was a donation made towards the Diyagala Boys’ Town, and in 2022 it was a donation made towards the 150 schools that are being supported by the Wesley College 150 schools project in line with their Sesquicentennial celebration in 2024.
This year, St. Benedict’s is led by Chamath Chathurya and vice captain Sharujan Shammuganathan, while Wesley is led by Linal Subasinghe and vice captain Disula Yapa both teams had a good 1st XI schools cricket season
The Joint Committee under the guidance of Rev. Bro. Dr. Pubudu Rajapaksha, the Principal of St. Benedict’s and Avanka Fernando, Principal of Wesley, have made arrangements for crowds to be present at both the two-day Cartman Cup encounter and the one-day Luke Shield encounter. In addition to this, both matches will be telecast live on television.
Further, both encounters will be live streamed through Quadrangle’s YouTube channel. As this encounter celebrates the sporting histories of the two schools and their shared bonds of brotherhood, the Joint Committee, together with the two schools, have made arrangements to attract students both past and present to witness this encounter live, online, or through the live telecast so that they can be a part of this celebration from anywhere in the world.