A bit of history
St. Sebastian’s English School was founded by Rev. Fr. A. Y. Keegerat at the Mission House of Kandana Church in 1914. In 1919, Rev. Fr. Romould Fernando took charge of the school, and a few years later, on June 15, 1925, helped the school gain recognition from the Government of Sri Lanka.
From 1925 to 1927, the school became known as St. Sebastian’s Boys’ English School until being renamed St. Sebastian’s English High School.
On 12 October 1930, Colombo Archbishop Peter Marque laid the foundation for a new building at the school’s current location. In 1931, it was renamed De Mazenod College, and in 1933, it came under the control of the De La Salle brothers.
Highlights
De Mazenod College, Kandana has been producing some quality cricketers since the dawn of the 21st century. The pace of right arm seamer Dilhara Fernando could never be forgotten while another right armed quick Dhammika Prasad has produced some dream spells for Sri Lanka in the recent past before he was hampered by injuries. He was even one of the top in the world in the year 2015 in Test cricket before he suffered a severe shoulder injury.
The latest product of DMC is chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan who has impressed in patches during his short international career. Sandakan has been in and out of the Sri Lankan set up and will look to establish himself as Sri Lanka’s top spinner in the near future.
Photo Album – De Mazenod College Cricket Team 2018 Preview
2017/18 season
The Mazenodians have been playing well below their potential during the season and have registered a single outright win over Gurukula in the 10 games they’ve played so far, while their only outright loss came against the Josephians. They are also sitting in the 7th position in the Singer U19 schools tournament with just 1 first innings win in 7 games so far. They have badly missed the services of their top run getter Krishan Sanjula who has missed plenty of games due to national duty and is now in New Zealand with the Sri Lanka U19s for the Youth World Cup.
Key players
With Krishan Sanjula missing most of the matches, Saliya Jude has taken the responsibility of leading an inexperienced batting unit and is the only centurion in the squad. He has scored over 400 runs including a century against Lumbini while his handy right arm off-breaks have also yielded over 25 wickets.
Skipper Mithila Geeth has been another star all-rounder in the squad with 25 wickets and almost 400 runs. He has hit 4 half centuries while he bowled an impressive spell of swing bowling against Nalanda to capture a five wicket haul.
Romal Fernando has been their top bowler by far with his impressive right arm leg spinners. He has 3 five wicket hauls already and is nearing the 50 wicket mark this season. His best performance came against Lumbini when he captured 6/91.
Coaching staff
Trishane Nonis has been in charge of the lads from Kandana since March 2017. He is a well-established level-3 coach with more than 20 years of coaching experience while he has coached first class teams Air Force SC, Tamil Union and Navy SC. Interestingly he was also the coach of the Qatar national team and he will look to share his experience with this young outfit. His assistant is Ranesh Perera the former Josephian all-rounder.
Full squad : Krishan Sanjula, Chamod Dananjaya, Nadun Hettiarachchi, Asitha Silva, Mithul Senarath, Nimna Fernando, Praveen Jude, Malith Fernando, Asiri Kavindu, Saliya Jude, Mithila Geeth ©, Pasindu Sasanka, Romal Fernando, Nishela Sathsara, Praveen Fonseka, Dilruk Anthony, Mark Mathiasz, Lakshika Dilshan, Minol Fernando, Pasindu Sihina
