The Royal–Thomian (The Battle of the Blues) is an annual

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

match in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

played between

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a Single-sex education, selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academ ...

and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia since 1879. It is known as ''The Battle of the Blues'' due to the colours of the two school's flags i.e. blue, gold and blue of Royal College and blue, black and blue of S. Thomas' College.

History

The original match was played between the

Colombo Academy Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

and

S. Thomas' College, Mutwal , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , song = Thomian Song , athletics = Yes , sports = Yes , nickname = Thora , denomination = Anglican , patron ...

in 1879, with schoolmasters and schoolboys participating. Mr. Ashley Walker captained the Colombo Academy while Rev. S. J. Meyrick, a member of the staff played for

S. Thomas' College, Mutwal , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , song = Thomian Song , athletics = Yes , sports = Yes , nickname = Thora , denomination = Anglican , patron ...

. This encounter is not considered the first match as Masters played for both sides. In 1880, only the students took part and this first official encounter between the Colombo Academy and

S. Thomas' College, Mutwal , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , song = Thomian Song , athletics = Yes , sports = Yes , nickname = Thora , denomination = Anglican , patron ...

Modara Modara ( si, මෝදර, translit=Mōdara; ta, முகத்துவாரம், translit=Mukattuvāram), also known as Mutwal ''(anglicised version)'', is a municipal ward of Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ් ...

was played at Galle Face Grounds, which is today the site of the

Taj Samudra Taj Samudra, trading as TAL Lanka Hotels PLC, is a five-star luxury hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hotel is a listed company on the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1982 and the majority of the shares are held by Taj Hotels. The hotel is located ri ...

Hotel. The match commenced at 4.00 p.m. each day. The Beira Lake stretched up to the present railway line close to San Sebastian Hill and the two teams rowed across in boats to the Galle Face Grounds. The Academy made 110 in the first inning; and St. Thomas' 59. In the second innings the Academy made 35 and St. Thomas' 24. J. W. de Silva was the Academy captain and F. W. McDonnell the Thomian captain. In this first encounter Colombo Academy won by 62 runs. At present, the match is played between Royal College, Colombo which is a public non-denominational school accommodating approximately 8,000 students and S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia which is a private Anglican school that has about 2500 boys on roll and a branch network of three constituent colleges with a total of over 5,500 students. It was the first schoolboy cricket match in Sri Lanka to be played over three days. The Royal-Thomian is the second-longest uninterrupted Cricket series in the entire world, preceded only by the Cricket Intercol played between Prince Alfred College, Adelaide and St. Peter's College, Adelaide, whose first match was played in 1878.

Shield

This match is played for the prestigious ''D. S. Senanayake'' Memorial Shield. Incidentally,

Rt. Hon. ''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is ...

D. S. Senanayake, who became the first

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

of Independent Ceylon, donned the Thomian cap in 1901 and 1902. This shield was first presented in 1928. If a match is drawn then the school already holding the shield retains it. S. Thomas' College is the current holder of the shield after winning the 140th Battle of the Blues in 2019.

Atmosphere

The "Battle of the Blues" is filled with pageantry, with decorated tents, flags and baila singing and dancing groups present all around the city and the ground itself during the match days and in the days leading up to it. The match is held on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday. By tradition, the schools are closed on match days to allow students to attend the

Big Match Big Matches are annual cricket matches played between different schools in Sri Lanka. The same schools have played one another for many years, some for over a century, and Big Matches form an important part of modern Sri Lankan culture Th ...

. Souvenirs published by both the schools are sold on all three days, the duty of distribution entrusted to the souvenir committees. On the day before the match, the students of each school take a walk around the city in a "cycle parade" with bands and decorations and other colourful items showing support for their team. Overloaded cars with supporters singing and careering along the Colombo streets is a familiar sight during match days. The match is looked forward to by both the young and old, male and female, and even those who have no connection with either school turn up and enjoy the celebrations. It is more of an occasion for the old boys and present students of both schools coming together for three days of revelry. It is quite normal to see elderly alumni from either school coming to the "

" to relive old times and meet old friends. Some expatriates choose this time of year to return to Sri Lanka in order to relive their old school days. File:The RC flag at the Royal-Thomian.jpg, alt=, A Royal flag at the 128th Royal-Thomian File:Thomian flag.jpg, alt=, A Thomian flag at the 129th Royal-Thomian

Venues

* Galle Face Grounds (Home of

Colombo Cricket Club The Colombo Cricket Club (CCC) is a first-class cricket club in Sri Lanka. It is the oldest in the country, having been formed in 1863, and is headquartered at 31 Maitland Crescent, Colombo 7, close to the headquarters of Sri Lanka Cricket. Hi ...

) - 1880, 1882 to 1891, 1893, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1912 * Gordon Gardens - 1881 * Nomads Cricket Club (NCC) Grounds, Victoria Park - 1892 * CCC Grounds, Maitland Crescent - 1895 to 1896, 1898, 1900 to 1911 * Campbell Park - 1913 to 1915, 1917 * NCC Grounds, Maitland Crescent - 1916, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1941 *

Sinhalese Sports Club The Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) is a first-class cricket club in Sri Lanka. Singhalese is the most successful club in Sri Lankan domestic cricket, having won the Premier Trophy a record 32 times to 2017. Although the name is correctly spelt w ...

(SSC) Grounds, Victoria Park (current NCC grounds) - 1918 to 1934, 1938, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1948 * Colombo Oval - 1943, 1945, 1947, 1949 to 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986 to 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993 * SSC Grounds, Maitland Place - 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1994 to Present

Notable people who have played in the Royal Thomian Cricket MatchThe Royal Thomian Derby

;Royalists *

J.R. Jayawardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only a ...

John Lionel Kotalawela *

Forester Obeysekera *

N.S. Joseph Neil Stanley Joseph (born 1906, date of death unknown) was a Sri Lankan cricketer who played for All-Ceylon in the 1930s. In a one-day match against the touring Australians in 1930, he dismissed Don Bradman hit wicket with the first ball he b ...

* R. L. de Krester * B. R. Heyn *

B. W. Bawa Major Benjamin William "Benny" Bawa, KC, VD (1865 – 1923) was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) lawyer. He served as the acting Solicitor General of Ceylon, as well as the private secretary and extra aide-de-camp to the Governor of Ceylon. Early lif ...

P.B. Bulankulama Sooriyakumara Wannisinghe Punchi Banda Bulankulame, OBE, JP (known as P. B. Bulankulame or Tikiri Bandara Bulankulama Dissawa) (12 December 1890 - 17 December 1958) was a Ceylonese politician, who was the former Cabinet Minister of Lands and La ...

Eran Wickramaratne Eran Wickramaratne, ( si, ඉරාන් වික්‍රමරත්න) ( ta, இரான் விக்கிரமரத்ன) MP is a Sri Lankan banker and politician. He is the former State Minister of Finance and member of Parliam ...

Ranjan Madugalle Deshabandu Ranjan Senerath Madugalle ( si, රන්ජන් මඩුගල්ල; born 22 April 1959) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who currently serves as the Chief of the panel of ICC match referees. He was educated at Trinity College, ...

Gamini Goonesena Gamini Goonesena (16 February 1931 – 1 August 2011), born in Colombo, was a first-class cricketer from Ceylon who played prior to his country being granted Test status. A gifted allrounder who was a right-handed batsman and a legbreak and googly ...

Churchill Gunasekara Dr Churchill Hector Gunasekara (27 July 1894 - 16 May 1969) was a Ceylonese first-class cricketer. He was the first person from his country to play for an English county, representing Middlesex from 1919 to 1922. He was widely regarded as the ...

* Fredrick C. de Saram * Satyendra Coomaraswamy * Donald Rutnam *

Basil Gunasekara Admiral Deshamanya D. Basil Gunasekara (born 7 May 1929) was the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy from 1973 to 1979. Early life and education Born to a planter in Katana, Gunasekara was the youngest child of a family of five members. Educated a ...

Muhammad Ajward Macan Markar Muhammad Ajward Macan Markar, FRCP is a Sri Lankan physician, academic. He was the first Professor of Medicine at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. Born to Sir Mohamed Macan Markar, he was educated at Royal College Colombo, where he played ...

* Asantha De Mel * Sudath Pasqual * Jayantha Amerasinghe * Rohan Jayasekera * Roshan Jurangpathy *

Jehan Mubarak Jehan Mubarak ( ta, ஜெகன் முபாரக்; born 10 January 1981) is an American-born former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who played all formats of the game. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. Per ...

Pradeep Jayaprakashdaran Pradeep Sri Jayaprakashdaran (born 13 January 1984) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer from the city of Colombo. School times Educated at the Royal College, Colombohe played in the Royal–Thomian and went on to play club level for the Tamil Uni ...

Kithruwan Vithanage Kasun Disi Kithuruwan Vithanage ( si, කිතුරුවන් විතානගේ) (born February 1991), or commonly Kithuruwan Vithanage, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays for all forms of the game in international level. ...

* Kushal Janith Perera *

Bhanuka Rajapaksa Pramod Bhanuka Bandara Rajapaksa, (born 24 October 1991), popularly known as Bhanuka Rajapaksa, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who plays limited over internationals for the national team. He is a left-handed batsman who bowls right-arm ...

Lasith Embuldeniya Lasith Embuldeniya (born 26 October 1996) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays Test match cricket for Sri Lanka. He made his international debut for the Sri Lanka cricket team in February 2019, and plays for Nondescripts Cricket Clu ...

;Thomians * D. S. Senanayake *

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime M ...

Vernon Prins Vernon George Prins (14 April 1924 – 31 July 2003) was a Sri Lankan cricketer who captained the Ceylon team in first-class matches from 1955–56 to 1959–60. School and club career Prins attended S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, where he ...

Michael Tissera Michael Hugh Tissera (born 23 March 1939 in Colombo) is a former Sri Lankan ODI cricketer who played in the 1975 Cricket World Cup. School Tissera was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, where, initially appearing in 1954 aged fourtee ...

Anura Tennekoon Anura Tennekoon (born 29 October 1946) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He was educated at the S. Thomas' College in Mount Lavinia. After captaining the school team and being selected as best ...

Buddy Reid Barclay George "Buddy" Reid (born 4 November 1940) is a former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Ceylon in the 1960s. Buddy Reid attended St. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, and the University of Colombo, where he studied medicine. ...

* Mano Ponniah *

Bradman Weerakoon Deshamanya Robin Bradman Weerakoon, CCS (born 20 October 1930) is a Sri Lankan civil servant. As a senior bureaucrat of the Sri Lankan government, he served nine Sri Lankan heads of state in a career spanning half a century.David, Marianne (inte ...

Duleep Mendis Deshamanya Louis Rohan Duleep Mendis (born 25 August 1952), known as Duleep Mendis, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the team, who captained Sri Lanka to their first Test series victory in 1985. He was primarily a special ...

* Guy de Alwis *

Aruna Gunawardene Aruna Alwis Wijesiri Gunawardene (born 31 March 1969) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played one One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international st ...

Saliya Ahangama Franklyn Saliya Ahangama (born 14 September 1959) is a Sri Lankan Australian cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who played in 3 Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intend ...

Kaushik Amalean Kaushik Naginda Amalean (born 7 April 1965) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in two Test matches and eight One Day Internationals from 1986 to 1988. He was born at Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ...

Kapila Wijegunawardene Kapila Indaka Weerakkody Wijegunawardene (born 23 November 1964) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in two Test matches and 26 One Day Internationals from 1988 to 1992. In his second Test match, he claimed 7 wickets in the match. He re ...

Johanne Samarasekera Johanne Abeyratne Samarasekera (born 22 February 1968) is a former Sri Lankan-born cricketer who played for the United Arab Emirates national cricket team. After playing twelve first-class games for his native Colombo in 1988–89 to 1989, Sama ...

Nisal Fernando Ungamandadige Nisal Kumudusiri Fernando (born March 10, 1970) is a former Sri Lankan cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each ...

Jeewan Mendis Balapuwaduge Manukulasuriya Amith Jeevan Mendis ( si, ජීවන් මෙන්ඩිස්; born 15 January 1983) is a former Sri Lankan professional cricketer, who played limited over internationals. An all-rounder who bowls leg spin, Mend ...

Kaushal Silva Jayan Kaushal Silva (born 27 May 1986), or Kaushal Silva, is a professional Sri Lanka test cricketer. He plays for the Sinhalese Sports Club and the Sri Lankan Test team. He made his first class debut in the 2001/02 season. He is a right-hande ...

* Stanley Tambiah * S. Saravanamuttu * P. Saravanamuttu * M. Saravanamuttu * Mevan Pieris * Ranil Abeynaike * Shantha Kottegoda * Michael Jayasekera * A. F. Molamure

References

External links

Official Royal Thomian WebsiteMultimedia coverageOpen ForumThe Royal–Thomian – 130 years on: The Battle of the Blues Steeped in tradition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal-Thomian Big Matches Royal College, Colombo S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Sri Lankan cricket in the 19th century Sri Lankan cricket in the 20th century Sri Lankan cricket in the 21st century Student sport in Sri Lanka

History

Shield

Atmosphere

Venues

Notable people who have played in the Royal Thomian Cricket MatchThe Royal Thomian Derby

See also

References

External links