Royal -Thomian Old Boys Limited Over Encounter

The ideal prelude to the traditional Big Match between Royal and S Thomas' Colleges will be staged at the NCC Grounds today, commencing 10.00 a.m. This will be the nineteenth occasion the two teams will meet to vie for honours.

The evolution of this traditional encounter extends back to the year 1992 when R.C. Gulasekharam, the present Chairman of the Organising Committee, mooted the idea of a match between the old boys of the two schools based on traditional games of this nature held in many countries. The genial Tilak De Zoysa of AMW fame, when approached by "Guli" on the advice of his former class mate the effervescent Hemaka Amarasuriya had agreed to sponsor the game. Associate Motorways with Tilak De Zoysa leading the way had sponsored the Old Boys game for eighteen long years. This year the Nineteenth match is sponsored by Sivaji and Shivantha De Zoysa and Suraj Dandeniya of Arabian Motors. The final teams for the game will be selected from the following former players who had represented the two schools at the Big Match.

This match will generate tremendous interest which is looked forward to by the players and spectators alike to rekindle nostalgic memories of the yesteryears of rip roaring Royal Thomian match fever. As per the tradition, two former captains of the respective schools will be the Chief Guests. This year the Chief Guests will be Chulaka Amarasinghe (Royal) and Mahinda Halangoda (S Thomas'). The winners will receive the famous Chulaka de Zoysa Memorial Trophy and other trophies will be presented to the Man of the Match, Best Batsman, Best Bowler and the Best Fielder sponsored by Arabian Motors. All cricket lovers will enjoy this game and is a must for all old boys of both schools.

Royal: Chinthaka Edirimanne (Captain), Nalliah Deverajan, Rochana Jayawardene, Kapila Dandeniya, Malik Samarasinghe, Udaya Wijesena, Zulki Hameed, Gamini Perera, Dishney Lakvijaya, Shezard Nizar, Chanaka Thenuwara, Haroon Mowjood, Sahan Hettiarachchi, Kanishka Botheju, Charith Fernando, Yasith Abeykoon, Imran Khan, Lakshitha De Silva, Malinga Maligaspe

S Thomas': Vajira wijegunawardne, Ken De Alwis, Mahinda Halangoda, Kapila Wijegunawardne, Asanga Seneviratne, Jerome Jayaratne, Anura Bulankulame, Nisal Fernando, Aruna Gunawardne, Naresh Adikaram, Yanesh Ratnadasa, Jeevan Mendis, Kaushal Silva, Lakshika Pussegolla, Ravi Kumarasinghe, Nilanka Pieris Junior, Ashan Pieris, Nigel Adams, Chamod Pathirana, Sachin Peiris, M. Mazahir, H.A.T. Fernando, Milan Fernando