| Battle of the Rocks | |
| Sport | Cricket |
| Administrator(s) | The two Old Boys' Associations of Maliyadeva and St. Anne's along with the school heads. |
| Timeline | 1959 – present[1] |
| Tournament format | Annual test match encounter |
| Participants | Maliyadeva College St. Anne's College |
| Most successful | Maliyadeva College |
Battle of the Rocks (Maliyadeva vs St. Anne's), the annual Cricket encounter is a prominent sporting event played between two schools in North Western province of Sri Lanka.
The cricket match is played between Maliyadeva College & St. Anne's College annually at the Welagedara Stadium, Kurunegala. The match is played over two days and the winner is presented with the Janaka Bogollagama Trophy. The two day match is followed by an one-day match between the two sides which started in 1992.
The encounter has a long history. However, in certain years, it was not played due to various reasons. The Year 2009 marked the 29th and the 17th of the Battle of the Rocks and the annual limited overs match.
Contents |
The Battle of the Rocks is filled with pageantry. With decorated tents, flags and Baila singing and dancing groups present all around the city and at the ground itself during the match days and in the days leading up to it. On the day before the match, the students of each school take a walk around the city in a cycle parade with bands and decorations and other colorful items showing support for their respective team. Overloaded cars with supporters singing along the Kurunegala streets is a familiar sight during match days.
The match is looked forward to by young and old, male and female and more of an occasion for the old boys and present students of both schools. It is quite normal to see 70, 80 year old alumni coming to the "Big Match" to relive old memories and meet their old friends.
Maliyadeva College has won four matches so far out of the 29 played while the St. Anne's College has never won any[1]. All the others have ended in no decisions. Both teams have won seven matches each, in the limited overs encounter, while on two occasions, the two teams shared the trophy.
|
annites