The 60th Battle of the Brothers encounter between Isipathana College and Thurstan College is set to take place on the 24th and 25th of February at the SSC Grounds in Colombo as it kickstarts ‘March Madness’, the Big Match season of 2023.
Isipathana College and Thurstan College came together at Colts Cricket Club as they hosted the media conference preceding the 60th Battle of the Brothers.
One of the oldest inter-school big matches in the country, the Battle of the Brothers began in the year 1964. The two schools are competing for the Blackham Wijewardene Memorial Trophy and so far, Isipathana College has won 4 matches while Thurstan College is in the lead of the tally with 6 wins.
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In the press conference held yesterday (14), the Principal of Isipathana College, Mr. Oshara Panditaratne expressed his views as follows.
“This year the inter-school cricket war starts with our cricket battle. We play this cricket match with great pride and hope to showcase our abilities under the prescribed rules, keeping in mind the main purpose of this competition, which is to develop the brotherhood between the two schools.”
This year Isipathana College as well as Thurstan College will be led by two strong top-order batters. Shanikya Deshapriya, a wicket-keeper batter, will lead the Thurstan unit while Naveen Kanishka will lead Isipathana College. Naveen is also the captain of the Isipathana College Rugby Team this year, making him just the second player to serve as the team captain of two sports in the same year at Isipathana College.
>>Photos – 60th Battle of the Brothers | Press Conference<<
Mr. Pradeep Nishantha is the Head Coach of Isipathana College while Mr. Heshan Thilakaratne takes charge of Thurstan College.
The 43rd limited overs battle for the W. A. De Silva Challenge Trophy will be played on March 5th and all arrangements have been made for the game to be held at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium. In addition, the 16th Twenty20 cricket match for the Priya Paranavitana Challenge Trophy will be held on March 25 at the Thurstan College Cricket Grounds.
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Due to the covid pandemic spectators were unable to watch the matches from the grounds in the past two seasons, however, this year crowds will be welcomed back into the stadiums.
In 2019, the Thurstan College team led by Sandaru Dias won all three matches between the sides in the 3 formats.
However, although the two-day big match held in 2020, 2021 and 2022 ended in draws, Isipathana College won the One Day match held in 2020, the last time the match was played. This will be the first time the T20 match is going to be held since 2019.
“In addition to the big match, there is the past pupils match, the teachers’ match and the bicycle race to be held. I wish both teams the best in the big match.” Principal of Thurston College Mr. Pramuditha Wickramasinghe told the media.
The Battle of the Brothers will be brought to you live on ThePapare.com, Dialog TV Channel No.140 and Dialog ViU App from 9.00 am onwards on the 24th and 25th of February.
