86th “Battle of the Saints” at The Oval on March 6th & 7th, 2020

Posted on 02 March 2020 by admin

The 86th Battle of the Saints annual cricket encounter between St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College will be played on the 6th and 7th  of March at P. Sara Oval Grounds, Colombo and promises to deliver an exciting brand of cricket. The encounter will no doubt exemplify the great values, traditions and pageantry usually displayed by these two of the leading catholic schools in the country. 

In the past 85 encounters between these two prestigious schools, St Joseph’s have won the trophy 12 times while St Peter’s have bagged the trophy 10 times.

The Rev. Fr. Maurice Le Goc Memorial Trophy is currently in Bambalapitiya after the Peterites last won in 2016 under the captaincy of off-spinner Vinu Mohotty. The Josephians last registered a victory in 2008 under the leadership of opening batsman Ruwantha Fernandopulle.

This time around, the Josephians will be led by all-rounder Johanne De Zilva, whilst the boys from Bambalapitiya will be under the captaincy of wicket-keeper batsman, Shannon Fernando.

Speaking at a media conference, Rev. Fr. Ranjith Andradi, the Rector of the hosting school of the 86th ‘Battle of the Saints’, St. Joseph’s College, Colombo, said, “the fierce but friendly rivalry between Sri Lanka’s two leading catholic schools for the Rev. Fr. Maurice J. Le Goc Trophy is one of the most looked forward to events in Sri Lanka’s sporting calendar that draws both the young and old. I give my blessings to both schools.”

Rev. Fr. Rohitha Rodrigo, Rector of St. Peter’s College, Colombo, said, “The ‘Battle of the Saints’ annual cricket encounter between St. Joseph’s College, Colombo and St. Peter’s College, Colombo, has a rich history of tradition and comradery for over eight decades. The playing fields of the ‘Battle of the Saints’ have forged many players who have represented the game at the highest level and brought much honour to Mother Lanka. The ‘Big Match’ between our two institutions is one of the most looked forward to events in the Sri Lanka schools cricket calendar and this year will be no exception. I wish both schools the very best to deliver 2 days of exhilarating cricket!”

“We would like to thank the management of Dialog Axiata for the generous gesture to sponsor the 86th encounter of the Annual ‘Battle of the Saints’” were the words echoed by both Rectors.

Both schools have produced many cricketers, who have had the distinction of representing the national team, with Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas, Thisara Perera, Dimuth Karunarathne, Ashley De Silva, Michael Vandort, Roshen Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Priyamal Perera from St. Joseph’s College and Roy Dias, Rumesh Rathnayake, Russell Arnold, Vinodhan John, Amal Silva, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Malinda Warnapura and Angelo Perera from St. Peter’s College being a few prominent names.

The much looked forward to 46th Josephian-Peterite limited overs match, which incidentally is the longest running limited over encounter between schools, is played for the Fr. Peter A Pillai trophy, and will be worked off on the 22nd of March at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Grounds, Colombo.

A unique feature in this year’s ‘Battle of the Saints’ is a special enclosure that will accommodate old boys from both schools that have left their respective Alma Mater’s before 1990.

Hatton National Bank (HNB), American National College (ANC), Ceylinco Life, Elephant House, Keells Krest, Maggi, Ceylon Biscuits Ltd., Jetwing Hotels, Daraz, Privilege Fashions and Sun FM have already come forward to support the event as sponsors.

Nirmalal Perera, Captain of the Josephian XI in 1981, will grace the Big match as the Chief Guest, while Damian Perera who skippered the Peterite XI in 1994, will be the Chief Guest at the limited over game. Further, the members of the 1970 team, led by Hector Perera of St. Joseph’s and Rory Inman of St. Peter’s will grace the 86th edition of the ‘Battle of the Saints’ as the Guests of Honour.

The Josephian-Peterite two-day encounter as well as the one-day match will be telecasted LIVE on Dialog Television, live-streamed on ThePapare.com and Dialog ‘Viu’ mobile.

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