SCHOOL CRICKET IN SRILANKA – By Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam

First school to start playing cricket in Sri Lanka was St. Thomas’ College in 1864, which was first at Mutwal, and later shifted to Mt. Lavinia, followed by Royal College in 1878, which was then at San Sebastian, and later moved to its present location. They were followed by Richmond College Galle in 1887, Ananda College Colombo in 1892, Trinity College Kandy, Wesley College Colombo, Kingswood College Kandy and Dharmarajah College Kandy in 1893, St. Benedict’s College Colombo in 1895, St. Joseph’s College Colombo in 1896, Prince of Wales College Moratuwa in 1897, St. Anthony’s College Kandy, St. Thomas’ College Matara and St. Servatius’ College Matara in 1899, Central College Jaffna in 1901, Mahinda College Galle in 1902, St. John’s College Jaffna in 1904, Nalanda College Colombo in 1924, St. Peter’s College Colombo in 1933. Since then several other schools had taken to cricket.

The oldest big match among the schools in Sri Lanka is between Royal College Colombo and St. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia commenced in 1879, followed by games between Dharmarajah College Kandy and Kingswood College Kandy in 1899, St. Servatius’ College Matara and St. Thomas’ College Matara in 1900, Central College Jaffna and St. John’s College Jaffna in 1904, Richmond College Galle and Mahinda College Galle in1905, St. Anthony’s College Kandy and Trinity College Kandy in 1914, Jaffna College Vaddukoddai and St. Patrick’s College Jaffna in 1927, Ananda College Colombo and Nalanda Vidyalaya Colombo in 1929, Prince of Wales College Moratuwa and St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa in 1933, St. Joseph’s College Colombo and St. Peter’s College Colombo in 1934, Kalutara Vidyalaya and Tissa Vidyalaya Kalutara in 1949, St. Sylvester’s College Kandy and Vidyartha College Kandy in 1958, St. Anne’s College Kurunegala and Maliyadeva College Kurunegala in 1959, Issipatana College Colombo and Thurstan College Colombo in 1964 and DS Senanayake College Colombo and Mahanama College Colombo in 2007. Though not considered a big match, the fixture between Royal College Colombo and Wesley College Colombo started in 1893, is the second oldest game.