Thomians win the 33rd annual ‘Battle of the Blues’ UK

By Geethaka Fernando

The cool breeze in April is a reminder that the much awaited summer is around the corner. The bloom of the yellow daffodils and the chirp of the mocking birds are just enough to add a spark into the lives of many in England. For the cricket fanatics, it means much more. It is the season a forty year old turns into a teenager. It is the season the backyards go unattended and the routine weekend shopping becomes solely a wives’ duty. Although it doesn’t match the scale or the hype generally associated with the ‘Big Match’, the annual Royal-Thomian old boys’ encounter in the United Kingdom is not short of glamour and excitement. For those of us who can’t make it to the SSC in March, this annual event is a way of reliving the sweet memories of yesteryear. It is a fantastic opportunity to savour the camaraderie, traditions and the spirit between two great schools that go a long way back.

The lush green of the picturesque John Walker’s Ground, first used by the Middlesex first XI as a regular venue as early as 1859 and the majestic backdrop of the Southgate Christ Church set a perfect stage for the 33rd ‘Battle Of The Blues – UK’. The old boys arriving from various parts of the country were greeted with bright sunshine.

The new-look Thomian side looked confident to defend the coveted Amarasekara Shield for the 5th consecutive year. Having been resoundingly beaten on a few occasions, the Royalists too looked highly determined to cause an upset. The Thomian skipper, Shamilal Mendis won the toss and elected to bat first. Dilshan Manamperi, making his first appearance in the series, joined Sacha Seneviratne to open the batting for the Thomians. After a couple a delightful cover drives, Dilshan departed and Sacha was joined by another fresher, Lloyd Paternott. Leaving his usual flamboyance aside, Sacha played a mature knock adapting well to the slowness of the pitch, whilst a flowing Paternott mesmerised the crowd with his masterful stroke-play. Sacha departed after a century stand, which brought Shami Mendis to the crease. Shami departed for a quick-fire 20 trying to accelerate the scoring. Sashrika Pussegolla, one of the few Thomians to pass the 1000-run mark in a school cricket season (2006), then joined Paternott paving the way for an exhibition of batting. Pussegolla rolled back the years dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground before he holed out to deep cover. Lloyd made a sparkling 94 before selflessly sacrificing his wicket trying to accelerate the scoring rate. Divahar Ramalingam’s cameo towards end took the score past 200 which seemed to be a challenging one.

In response, Danushka Perera, a big match centurion and Naveen Samarakoon started off for Royal with some rapid stroke play taking the game away from the Thomians. Naveen, the senior statesman of the team, in particular was in imperious form clearing the long boundaries at will. Before too long, the Thomian skipper realised that the pace attack wasn’t producing the desired results and decided to bring the spinners on. The attack launched by the ‘spin trio’; Mendis, Pussegolla and Manamperi managed to peg back the scoring and Paternott once again proved that he can do no wrong by getting the initial breakthrough. The veteran Malinda Thotuwilage too departed early but Hashen Ramanayake continued his form from the previous year and was determined to steer the Old Royalists home. He ensured that the Royalists were always in the hunt by continuously forging partnerships with the middle order. Royal required 75 runs to win from the last 15 overs with six wickets in hand and was in a comfortable position to saunter home.

Once again exhibiting the indomitable ‘Thora’ grit, the Thomians made some in-roads through their tight bowling aided by some tactical field setting. However, as a result of Ramanayake’s sensible stroke play, Royal managed to somehow reduce the target to 41 runs in the final 8 overs. Getting a sniff of the much-awaited Royal victory, out came the fire crackers from the Royal camp with a couple of ‘bottle rockets’ landing near the main pitch. With a modest target ahead of them, it was clear that the Royal batsmen were seeking glory as several big shots were attempted. This caused them to lose wickets at regular intervals and a stunning catch by Pussegolla off his own bowling to get rid of Heshan Morawaka turned the fortunes of the Thomians. With Royal facing their last two overs having to get 12 runs only with one wicket in hand, another twist to the tale was imminent. This moment came when Gayan Ranasinghe cleared the longest boundary of the ground off the last delivery of the 39th over reducing the target only to a meagre 4 runs. Ratcheting up the tension, skipper Mendis took a brave decision to bring the part timer Paternott back to bowl the final over hoping he could work his magic again. With many fielders moving into the ring to stop the singles, a boundary was always on the cards. The pressure on the last pair was insurmountable as Lloyd Paternott bowled the first two deliveries without conceding any runs. The batsman finally succumbed to the pressure by stepping out to try a big shot only to see the middle stump cartwheeling a few yards back. This marked the fifth consecutive win for the Thomians.

As usual, the fierce tussle on the field was left at the ropes and what followed was an evening of merrymaking, upholding the true Royal-Thomian spirit.