It is the second oldest inter-school cricket encounter in the island where two prestigious institutions, Royal College and Wesley College will battle it out for the Frank Gunasekara Shield at the SSC, on the 27th and the 28th of January 2017.
The first encounter between the two schools was played back in 1893 at San Sebastian Hill, Hultsdorf, home of the Royalists. The hosts were led by F.S. De Silva while Percy de Bruin captained the visitors. One of the umpires was John Harward, then principal of Royal College. The Royalists won the inaugural encounter by 53 runs.
This year it will be the 124th occasion on which the schools will meet. Royal lead the tally with 51 wins to Wesley’s 21 while 51 have ended with no result. The only break in the series came in 1943 when the grounds of both schools were taken over by the British during the Second World War.
The shield is named after a famous Ceylonese Senator and old Royalist Sir Frank Gunasekara who was the Deputy President of the Senate of Ceylon in 1948.
The Royalists are the current holders of the shield, having won it last year under the captaincy of Harith Samarasinghe. Batting first, Royal made 235/8 before bowling out Wesley for a paltry 93. Following on, Wesley made 172 giving Royal a 31 run target which was comfortably chased down by the home side. The 9 wicket win saw the shield returning to Reid Avenue after 3 years.
The shield was first awarded in 1969 with Wesley emerging victorious under the leadership of Amaresh Rajaratnam. The result was made possible due to sporting declarations by both sides. Batting first, Wesley scored 260 for 9 while Royal replied with 207 for 7. With a lead of 53 runs in the first innings, Wesley declared at 105 for 8, setting the Royalists a target of 158. The game subsequently ended in a thrilling finish as the Royalists were bowled out for 148 in the last over of the day, giving Wesley a 9 run win.
However their reign was short lived, as Royal won it back in the following year. Wesley were forced to wait another 42 years to taste victory, which they did in 2012 under the captaincy of Ashen Fonseka.
The centenary encounter was played as a three-day affair at the P.Sara Oval in 1993 where Royal triumphed under Gamini Perera. The Wesleyites were led by Tehran Rasool. After bowling Wesley out for 103 runs, the boys from Reid Avenue posted a mammoth total of 411 for 6 with the skipper himself scoring an unbeaten 152. The match ended within two days when Wesley were bowled out for 112 in their second innings, giving the Royalists an emphatic innings and 196 run victory. N. Rajan’s brilliant bowling earned him a match bag of 10 for 43.
In 1905, C. A. Perera of Wesley made 108 in the encounter, becoming the first ever opponent to score a century against Royal.
Wesleyite Danesh Dassanayake scored centuries against Royal in 1988 and 1989. His father Edmund Dassanayake too scored a ton in 1946. They remain the only father-son duo to score centuries against Royal.
The record for the highest individual score is held by the former Royal skipper Chulaka Amarasinghe who scored an unbeaten 207 in 1983 while Roshan David’s 199 in 1990 stands as the best for the Wesleyites. David’s innings also happens to equal the highest score by any opponent against Royal in a 1st XI school cricket fixture.
Royal’s highest total of 463 for 9 came in 1930 while the highest total for Wesley was their 368 which came in 1990.
Last year, the affair at Campbell Park saw domination by Royal which was countered by a thrilling response by Wesley. Skipper Geeshath Panditharatne’s 112 propelled the visitors 279/8 before Wesley were struggling at stumps on 83/6. On day two, came Helitha Bambarenda (67) and Movin Subasinghe (42) to take the hosts to 240.
Royal’s sporting declaration at 173/6 gave the Wesleylites a target of 213 in 29 overs. Led by their deputy and opener Zenith Wickramanayake’s 47, Wesley were cruising towards victory, reaching 139/3 in 19 overs. Needing 74 more in the last 10, the Royalists were nettled, until Himesh Ramanayake’s magic sent skipper Andrew Parais back for 21. But youngster Thilina Perera propelled his way, to a possible win for the home side.
His elegant stroke-play charmed the Campbell Park crowd, giving a short scare for the visitors. Himesh turned back the favour for the Royalists, claiming danger man Bambarenda’s wicket as Thiran Dhanapala took a magnificent diving catch, providing much needed inspiration for a seemingly dejected side. Finally Embuldeniya struck at a vital juncture to dismiss Perera for a terrific 85 when Wesley required 39 off 3 overs. Turning the tides in favour of Royal, Himesh forced Subasinghe to leave, possibly the last straw for them. At one point, Wesley was on top when they needed 90 off 12 overs with 7 wickets in hand but it was Ramanayake’s tight bowling with ideal variations in pace and bounce that commanded Royal towards their goal in this thrilling finale. Wesley ended on 193/7 at close.
This year, Helitha Vithanage will be leading the Royal side while Shamod Athulathmudali will be captaining Wesley. The Royalists will be looking to hold on to the celebrated shield which they earned after a long wait while the Wesleyites will be hoping to do their utmost to bring it back to Campbell Park.
