The Royal – Thomian, a tradition of 134 years goes back to 1879 when Mr. Ashley Walker the Cricket master at Colombo Academy (Former Royal College) took the initiative of playing against the S. Thomas’.
In 1880 it became a students-only encounter where it was played in Galle Face, present premises of the Taj Samudra Hotel. The Academy was led by J.W De Silva while F.W McDonnell captained S. Thomas’. The Colombo Academy emerged victorious in the inaugural encounter.
So far the encounter has been played in 7 different locations. Galle Face, Gordon Gardens, NCC (Victoria Park), CCC, Campbell Park, NCC (Maitland Place), SSC (Victoria Park), P. Sara Stadium (The Oval) and SSC (Maitland Place).
Gordon Gardens and NCC (Victoria Park) have the unique record of hosting a solitary Royal – Thomian (In 1881 and 1892 respectively) while Colombo Oval has hosted 40 encounters, the most on a single venue. Having hosted the encounter for the first time in 1975, the SSC grounds at Maitland Place is remembered for being the venue for the centenary encounter in 1979. It has been the venue for the battle since 1994.
Sumithra Warnakulasuriya’s marathon 197 remains the highest score by a batsman at the Oval in 1980 while 165 runs by batsmen Anushka Polonowita (1996), F. Saleem (2009) and Ramith Rambukwella (2010) remains highest individual scores at the present SSC venue.
The highest team score at Oval stands 357/8 dec. in 1980 and highest team total at SSC is 432/7 dec. in 2006, both made by Royalists.
Royalist G.T. Kapukotuwa holds the best bowling performance at Oval with 7 for 35 in 1945, while Thomian D.L. Wickremaratne’s 7 for 50 in 1990 is considered as the best bowling performance in an inning at SSC.
The team led by Eardley Lieversz broke the deadlock in 1969, which was the longest period without a win for Royal (1952-1968). Anura Bulankulame’s S.Thomas’ team ended a long drought by winning the encounter in 1988 after 24 years.
Between 1969 and 1988, the D.S Senanayake shield resided at Reid Avenue for 19 years, while S. Thomas’ became its home for 17 years between 1952 and 1969, the longest stay at both institutions.
The longest period without draws came between 1888 and 1899 where out of the 11 encounters the Thomians won 7 against Royal’s 4 wins. Draws dominated the game for 13 years, from 1970 to 1982 where the Royalists led by Chulaka Amarasinghe ended it with an emphatic 10-wicket win in 1983.
In 1988 Royal fielded one of the youngest teams in their history as the average age stood at 16 ½ years with five players being 15 years old. The team suffered a mammoth defeat by innings and 72 runs giving Thomians their biggest win in the series and also a taste of victory after 24 years. The Royalists, captained by P.C.D McCarthy achieved their biggest victory in 1938 with an innings and 87-run win.
The closest win for Royal came in 2006 when they secured a 7-wicket win with just 2 minutes to spare on the final day while the closest win for the Thomians came in 1924 where they won by 23 runs, 5 minutes before the close of play.
In 1990 and 1991 Royalists recorded consecutive wins but had to wait for 15 more years for their next win which eventually came in 2006 with a thrilling end to the game.
Both Thomian victories in 2005 and 2007 inflicted innings defeat to the Royalists. In 2013, the shield made its way back to Reid Avenue after a lapse of 6 years under the captaincy of Devind Pathmanathan.
Going into the 135th encounter, the tally stands at 34 wins for each side while 66 ending with no result.
