Now a Saints Twenty20 Quadrangular
By M Naushad Amit
Four leading Catholic institutions in the country namely St. Anthony’s Katugastota, St. Benedict’s Kotahena, St. Joseph’s Maradana and St. Peter’s Bambalapitiya will feature in an inaugural Saints Schools Quadrangular Twenty20 tournament at the R. Premadasa Stadium next Saturday (March 28). The schools hope to continue this tournament in the years to come. The arrangements of the first-ever Twenty20 cricket tournament for the first XI teams of the four schools were revealed at the Old Benedictine Sports Club premises by the pioneers, St. Benedict’s on Thursday. According to the organisers the tournament will begin from the semi-final stage from 10.00 am on Saturday followed by the final where the two winning teams after the knockout stage will advance to play for the ‘Archbishop of Colombo Trophy’.
“With what we have seen in the recent months Twenty20 has come to stay worldwide. We thought that this would be the ideal way to conduct a competitive and entertaining cricket tournament for all regardless of their age groups.” said the Director of St. Benedict’s College Rev. Brother Granville Perera.
“We as pioneers thought of including three other catholic schools so that would be a perfect meeting place for the past and present students of four schools. Having four Saints schools in a tournament of this nature will not only give them good entertainment but will also develop the fellowship of all students from all the schools.”
The opponents at the two semi-finals were identified after the draw held at the same occasion. Accordingly arch rivals St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s will clash in the first semi-final followed by the encounter of St. Anthony’s and this year’s hosts St. Benedict’s. The first team batting at the first semi-final will take the field at 10.00am. The team batting first in the next semi-final will begin their innings at 11.30am. After a half-hour lunch break the team batting second in the first semi-final will continue their essay at 1.30pm followed by the next half of the second semi-final which is scheduled at 3.00pm. Before the commencement of the final which is scheduled at 6.00pm to be played under lights, a cultural display will take place to entertain the crowd.
“We arranged the matches in order to give ample time to all four teams to prepare. Since it’s a Twenty20 tournament players will waste a lot of their energy on the field. Since this is the inaugural series we will see how we could develop the tournament in years to come,” said the co-chairman of the organising committee, Ravi Irugalbandara.
Four commemorative coins were given to the captains of four schools which were used for the team draw. “This will be the only draw to take place in the series since it’s the first time. From next year the draw will rotate,” Irugalbandara further said.
Archbishop of Colombo Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis will grace the awards ceremony which is scheduled to take place at 8.30pm followed by the final. The winning team will receive a cash award of Rs. 50,000, the ‘Archbishop of Colombo Trophy’ along with medals and certificates while the runner-up will receive 25,000 in cash and medals and certificates. Apart from the main awards, the man-of-the-match of the two semi-finals, best batsman, best bowler and best fielder in the final will receive trophies and gift vouchers. The man-of-the-final will receive a cash award of Rs. 10,000 apart from a trophy and gift voucher while the most valuable player of the tournament will receive an attractive trophy along with Rs. 15,000 and gift voucher. A special ‘spirit of the game trophy’ has been designed for the team which displays sportsmanship and attributes of fair play. Ceylon Cold Stores has come forward to sponsor the tournament as main sponsor while Bartleet Finance Ltd, Silver Ray and KDU Group, Pelmadulla are co-sponsors.
Head of Frozen Confectionary, Ceylon Cold Stores Neil Samarasinghe hands over the sponsorship cheque to Rev. Brother Granville Perera, Director of St. Benedict’s College. Brand Activation Manager Maithri Vithanage is also present |
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