The Hill Capital Battle of the Blues is played between tradition rivals Trinity College, Kandy and St Anthony’s College, Katugasthota. Here’s a recollection of the event by former Antonian skipper Pramodth Fernando, who captained a young Antonian side in 2005.
By Pramodth Fernando – Captain 2005 (St Anthony’s College, Katugasthota)
The friendly rivalry between the two great institutions in the Hill Capital celebrated its centenary year in 2017 and since its inception in 1904 this traditional encounter between St. Anthony’s College and Trinity College, well known as the “Battle of the Blues” in the Hill Capital, has come a very long way.
My memory goes back to March 1992, the first ever big match I witnessed as a school boy, wearing the crest of St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota, proudly on my chest. From that day on, I have been able to witness and also be a part of this historical encounter for over two and a half decades. The dream of a any junior cricketer is to play a big match for their Alma mater and when I started my cricketing career at St. Anthony’s in 1998 as a 13 year old kid, I always wanted to represent my college cricket team at the highest level.
As a youngster, I was picked in the Under 13 ‘B’ team but was given only a single match in the tournament, having to perform the duties of the water boy for the rest of the season. Then I never thought that I would be able to fulfil my dream of playing a big match for college. My ‘Never give up’ attitude is what kept me going during those tough times. The dream of making it into the senior team became a reality in 2002 and I was able to represent the 1st XI team from 2002-2006.
The 2004/05 season can definitely be termed as the most challenging and memorable cricketing year in my sporting career at St. Anthony’s College when I was appointed as the captain of the senior cricket team. Though my dream was to represent the senior cricket team in school, I never expected that I would be given the opportunity to lead the first XI of this great institution which has a rich history of more than 160 years.
Despite the honour, it was a real challenge for me to lead a young team with very limited resources which had only three players who had played the entire season during the previous year. The team largely comprised of junior players who had just completed their under 15 season, but I feel really happy looking back now because most of these young lads went on to represent the 1st XI for more than 4 years with great distinction due to the opportunity given to them at a young age.
Coming back to the 2004/05 season, the entire coaching set up too was changed at the beginning of the season where the former Antonian, Sri Lankan player and the current Spin Bowling coach of the Sri Lanka national cricket team, Mr. Piyal Wijetunga took over as the head coach. This incidentally was his first assignment as a coach and he had Mr. Champika Sirwardena as his assistant coach.
With a new look team, the young Eagles had the determination and courage to perform well during the season, finishing it without losing a single match outright where many had predicted at least 5 defeats. Against a very formidable Ananda team which had almost 4 to 5 Sri Lanka Under 19 national team players, we were able to draw the match, saving it from the jaws of defeat – a game which saw one of the greatest escapes after we were asked to follow on.
Similarly, St. Joseph’s College Colombo who was the team of the season, arrived in Kandy to play their penultimate match before the big match with the hope of recording an outright win and registering their 9th outright win for the season (which would have been a Sri Lankan record at that time). But the young Eagles rose to the occasion and managed to give St. Joseph’s a good run for their money as we were able to hold them to a draw. The spectators who had come all the way from Colombo with papare bands and blue and white flags with the hope of seeing their record 9th win had to return empty handed due to the gutsy performance of our young lads.
Come 11th of March 2005, the big day. It was the day I was looking forward to, leading the senior cricket team of St. Anthony’s College against our rivals Trinity College at the 89th Battle of the Blues at the Lion’s Den in Asgiriya. On paper Trinity were the favorites as they had recorded 7 outright wins during the season and had a very experienced line up which could run through any opposition. Even though we were inexperienced, we never focused on the stats but believed in ourselves and wanted to show everyone that we are a team that would not surrender meekly.
All pre-match media reports were in favor of Trinity College, expecting them to end their 19-match winless hoodoo by getting the better of the inexperienced Antonians. It was a great feeling for me to step into the Asgiriya grounds alongside rival captain Maduranga Munaweera to toss the coin on the 1st day of the 89th Battle of the Blues, which incidentally was played for the John Halangoda Trophy for the first time. This was added motivation as both Maduranga and I were keen to take the trophy to our respective schools. The match referee Mr. Mahinda Pethiyagoda spun the coin and my call was correct. As planned I invited Trinity to take first lease of the wicket as we were comfortable chasing. Knowing that Trinity’s strength too was in their batting line up, we wanted to restrict them to below 200 runs.
Leading a young team which had only three players who had previously featured in a big match, it was a daunting task to hold the free flow batting lineup of Trinity College. With a final word of encouragement before stepping into the field, the players were all geared up and determined to do their part well. We were more than happy to be labelled as underdogs as it eased the unnecessary pressure on us and allowed us to enjoy the game.
It was a great feeling to be in the middle, leading the team with Papare bands playing around and with the loud cheers from the spectators of both camps adding to the atmospere. The game was progressing well and my young team was doing exactly what was expected of them. The Trinity batsmen were not allowed to score freely, something they were used to doing during the entire season and the pressure built by the bowlers resulted in wickets tumbling at regular intervals. They were not able to put on a big score and were 179/9 when rain brought an early end to the first day’s play. It was a great achievement by the young bowling unit and we were looking to wrap up the Trinity inning as early as the next day.
Surprisingly Trinity declared on their overnight score before the start of second day’s play perhaps expecting to run through our batting line up with the help of the wicket which had moisture after being covered since the previous evening. The first hurdle for us to achieve was to go past Trinity’s score and each batsman was given a set target in order to achieve this. But at the end of the 1st hour’s play on day 2, we were staring down the barrel at 38-4, in danger of being bowling out below the three figure mark.
It was my turn to step in guide the team which was really down in their confidence at this stage and I found an able partner in Shameer Munas who supported me to take the team out of the danger zone. We managed to put on a 45 run partnership before I got out after scoring 36 runs. Shameer got out after scoring a valuable 42 runs and at 145-8, it did not look like we could surpass Trinity’s score. But my deputy, Sameera Weerabahu showed great composure in a difficult circumstance with a superb, gutsy knock. He, together with a defiant Peter Samarakone, saw us through to the lead and the innings was declared at 193/9. Trinity were 30 for no loss in their second essay when bad light halted play, bringing a premature end to the 89th Battle of the Blues where my young and relatively inexperienced team was able to come out on top against a strong Trinity Side.
It was a joyous moment for us as we managed to perform well against all odds. As a result of winning the match on first innings, it was my turn to lay my hands on the John Halangoda Memorial Trophy which was on offer for the first time. Lifting the trophy was one of the greatest moments in my sporting career at College. What was more special was being able to lead a young team which did not lose a single match during the entire season; it is the only Antonian team which has been able to do it since 2002 to date. It would not have been possible to come on top of the strong Trinity side if not for the grit and determination shown by my young team, the support given by the coaching staff and the blessings by the almighty and my parents.
