141st Battle of the Blues ‘Play for a Cause’ pledges to support four deserving schools

Seated (from left): Royal-Thomian Match Organising Committee Co-Chair Mahesh Nanayakkara, St. Thomas’ College – Mt. Lavinia Sub Warden Asanka Perera, Dialog Axiata Vice President - Enterprise Business and Large Enterprise Sales Navin Peiris, Royal College – Colombo Asst. Principal M.A.M. Riyaz and Royal-Thomian Match Organising Committee Co-Chair Prasanna Fernando  

Standing (from left): Royal-Thomian Match Organising Committee Members Zulki Hamid, Anura Prashantha, Roshan Adams, Kumudu Warnakulasooriya and Aruna Shantha with the young cricketers from the four benefiting schools and Royal College – Colombo Captain Thevindu Senaratane and St. Thomas’ College – Mt. Lavinia Vice-Captain Manisha Rupasinghe 

Play for a Cause, the annual sustainability project of the Battle of the Blues — the annual cricket encounter between Royal College, Colombo, and S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia — as tradition will gift cricket equipment to four deserving schools that are deficient in cricket equipment. 

NCP/POL/HI/Girithalegama Maha Vidyalaya, Giritale; T/TN/Sri Rathanajothi Vidyayathana Pirivena, Trincomalee; Mapa/Denu/Menikdiwela Central College, Menikdiwela; and Harishchandra College, Negombo were selected as the worthy beneficiaries by the Royal-Thomian Cricket Joint Match Organising Committee under the aegis of Royal College, Colombo Principal B. A. Abeyrathna and S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia Warden  Rev. Marc Billimoria.

In 2015, on the 136th edition of the Royal-Thomian, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider Dialog Axiata PLC rekindled a long and successful partnership with Sri Lanka’s Blue-Ribbon Big Match, the Battle of the Blues, and made a pledge to contribute Rs. 1,000 for every run scored and Rs. 10,000 for every wicket that fell during the match. 

This year’s exciting encounter contributed Rs. 1,008,000 to the ‘Play for a Cause’ pledge. Since the inception of the ‘Play for a Cause’ pledge, inclusive of the 141st Battle of the Blues, Rs. 6,151,000 worth of cricket gear was donated to 22 deserving schools.

The ‘Battle of the Blues’ is one of the most celebrated school-level sports encounters in Sri Lanka and has a rich and colourful history and tradition spanning 141 years. It is also distinguished for holding the honour of being the second-longest uninterrupted cricket series played in the world, second only to the annual encounter played between St. Peter’s College, Adelaide and Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, Australia, which began just a year earlier.