Battle of the Rocks

For the American Revolutionary War battle also called "Battle of the Rocks" fought in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1779 see Battle of Norwalk
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 1950 – present[1]
Tournament format Annual test match encounter
Participants Maliyadeva College
St. Anne's College
Current champion Maliyadeva College
Most successful Maliyadeva College

Battle of the Rocks (Ana - Deva Big Match), 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 Trophy. The two day match is followed by a 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 2015 marked the 32nd 2-day encounter and 20th limited overs version of Battle of the Rocks.

Atmosphere

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.

Rockers' Parade

On the day before the match, the students of each school take a walk around the city in a vehicle 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.

Summary of results

Maliyadeva College has won 6 matches so far out of the 32 played while the St. Anne's College has never won any.[1] All the others have ended in no decisions. Maliyadeva has won 11 matches (out of the 20 played) while St. Anne's has won 7 matches, in the limited overs encounter, while on 2 occasions, the two teams shared the trophy.

Year 2-day Match Limited Overs Match
1950
?
-
1964
Maliyadeva
-
1992
Drawn
St. Anne's
1997
Drawn
No Decision
2001
Drawn
No Decision
2005
Drawn
Maliyadeva
2006
Drawn
?
2007
Drawn
St. Anne's
2009
Drawn
St. Anne's
2012
-
Maliyadeva
2013
Maliyadeva
Maliyadeva
2014
Maliyadeva
Maliyadeva
2015
Drawn
Maliyadeva

Notable persons who have played

Maliyadeva College


St. Anne's College

Gallery

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2009 Battle of the Rocks.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, January 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.