By Bharatha Malawaraarachchi
Susamyawardena Maha Vidyalaya, Borella, clinched the all island under 17 cricket title defeating St. Xavier's College, Marawila beating them by 71 runs on first innings. This tournament was organised by the Sri Lanka School's Cricket Association and sponsored by M/s. Singer (Sri Lanka) Ltd.
Taking first lease of the wicket, Susamyawardena Maha Vidyalaya, playing in a final for the first time made 165 all out in their first innings. Tharindu Mendis 41 and A. Weerakody chipped in with an unbeaten 43.
W. Silva and W. M. Shamal captured 3 wickets for 42 and 3 for 21 respectively for St. Xavier's. In reply St. Xavier's were all out for 94 with P. Fernando making 23.
Right arm leg spinner Upendra Perera bowled best for Susamyawardena M.V. capturing five wickets for 13 runs and Tarindu Mendis gave a good all round performance to take two wickets for 30. They were superbly backed up by the fielders with H. Sandun taking two breathtaking catches and captain Sandaruwan two stumpings.
Susamyawardena M.V. in their second innings made 214 for 8 wickets at the close on the second and final day. P. Attanayake made an elegant 70 while vice captain Gihan Perera made a fluent 55. Tarindu Mendis and H. Sandun too made important contributions with 21 and 20 respectively. G. Rajapakse took two wickets for 27 for St. Xavier's College.
International schools under-15 cricket tourney from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2
By Chris Dhambarage
The Inter-International Schools under 15 cricket tournament organised by the Asian International School and sponsored by Kotmale Holdings Limited for the Kotmale challenge trophy will be held from October 25 to November 2 at Viharamaha Devi Park and Health grounds, Castle Street.
The tournament will be conducted under the rules of the cricket code (1980) laid down by the MCC with any special amendments by the tournament committee. The tournament committee will comprise of Rohan Wijesinha (sports co ordinator Asian International School), Anura Polonowita and a representative of the Kotmale Holdings Limited.
The teams participating in this tournament are Overseas School, Colombo International School, Belvoir College, Alethea International, Asian International School, Leighton Park, British School, College of World Education, Ikra International, Wycherley International and Stafford International.
All preliminary round matches will be of 30 overs per side and two matches will be played on one day. The umpires from the A.C.U.S.L will officiate in all matches. The final will be worked off on November 2 at Viharamaha Devi Park and this match will be of 50 overs per side.
Asian International School will take on Overseas School in the curtain raiser of the tournament on October 25 at Viharamaha Devi Park. The British School, College of World Education, Ikra International and Stafford International have received a bye into the quarterfinals scheduled for October 26. The two semifinals are scheduled for November 1 at Viharamaha Devi Park.
L U-19 to play 3 Tests & 3 one dayers
The Sri Lanka under 19 cricketers will play a series of three Tests and three one-day internationals against their Indian counterparts on their one month long tour of India commencing November 23.
The tour itinerary released by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board yesterday: Nov. 23 : Arrival, Nov. 25-27 : 3-day match at Hyderabad, Nov. 30-Dec. 3 : 1st Under 19 Test at Hyderabad, Dec. 6-9 : 2nd under 19 Test at Bangalore, Dec. 12-15 : 3rd and final under 19 Test at Ahmedabad, Dec. 18 : 1st under 19 ODI, Dec. 21 : 2nd under 19 ODI, Dec. 24 : 3rd and final ODI, Dec. 25 : Departure to Sri Lanka.
...in Bradman pool
The Cricket Board also released the draw for the under 19 World Cup which will be held in South Africa from January 11, next year.
Sri Lanka are grouped in the Bradman pool (group 3) with Pakistan, Ireland and wild card entry.
Sri Lanka play Pakistan in their opening match on January 12 against Pakistan at CBC Old Boys, on January 13 against Ireland at Benoni Northerns, and on January 15 against wild card entry at Benoni Northerns.
The other groupings: Gavaskar pool (group 1): South Africa, India, Kenya , Scotland, Sobers pool (group 2): New Zealand, England, Asia 1, Namibia, and Cowdrey pool (group 4): Australia, Zimbabwe, West Indies, Asia 2.
SSC in action powered by Caltex energy
By SA'ADI THAWFEEQ
The Singhalese Sports Club (SSC), already a powerful club in cricket, will be powered through the next millenium by Caltex (Lanka Lubricants Ltd), who have undertaken a five-year sponsorship with the club from this year.
At a well-attended press conference held at the club's main pavilion on Monday evening, it was announced that Caltex will be the sole sponsor of the SSC first eleven cricket team till the year 2001.
As the initial step towards their firm commitment towards cricket, Caltex have already begun refurbishing the 'Caltex Pavilion' which can accommodate around 250-300 spectators.
The pavilion situated between the old and the new scoreboards, will be equipped with the best of facilities enabling spectators the modern comforts, whether he is is viewing an international or domestic match.
The pavilion is expected to be completed before the next international tour in Sri Lanka, when Zimbabwe make a two-Test tour in January 1998.
The Caltex sponsorship will cover SSC in their Centenary Year in 1999. The club was formed with the objective of encouraging sports, especially cricket and, the present SSC side which ended as runner-up in the 1996-97 Sara trophy tournament, comprises Test players, skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardena and Jayantha Silva.
``What has made Sri Lanka the number one cricket nation in the world today is the fact that the sport is supported at the grassroot levels and that there is a system which captures grassroot talent and allows young, promising players to work their way up to the national team,'' said Caltex managing director Ronald Hopkins.
``The SSC has been involved in just this type of activity for almost 100 years. The SSC is also a host ground for many international cricket events. It is with this in mind that Caltex reached an agreement with the SSC to become the sole sponsors of the first eleven team,'' said Hopkins.
``Our company has been in this country a very long time, almost 60 years. Just as much as Caltex is part of the country's history, cricket has been here even longer. We intend to keep our support of the sport flowing well into the future through initiatives like this,'' he said.
Caltex country manager (marketing) Salman Saadat said the discussions started around five to six months with SSC has finally borne fruit. He said the selection of the club was made easy with the record that SSC had.
``Caltex believes in becoming good corporate citizens and SSC is one of them,'' he said.
Prabodya Kariyawasam of the SSC thanked Caltex for their generous sponsorship and wished a fruitful union between Caltex and the SSC.
Fine double by Faiz
A fine double by M. S. M. Faiz enabled St. Thomas College, Gurutalawa, to gain a first innings will over De Mazenod College, Kandana in their Under-19 Coca Cola Trophy cricket encounter played at Gurutalawa grounds.
M. S. M. Faiz scored 60 runs in their first innings total of 161 runs in 44.5 overs and later captured 6 wickets for 48 runs to restrict De Mazenod score for 145 in 31.5 overs.
When rain interrupted play at 2.30 p.m. STC Gurutalawa were 150 for 2 where N. S. Weerasuriya scored an unbeaten century.
St. Thomas College, Gurutalawa 161: (M. S. M. Faiz 60, R. P. Fernando 39 n.o. N. S. W. Weerasuriya 19, S. Harsha 5 for 51, A. Naline 3 for 13 and S. Rakitha 2 for 4) and 150 for 2 (N. S. Weerasuriya 104 n.o. and S. N. Karunaratne 33)
De Mazenod 145 (S. Nuwantha 29, A. Naline 28, L. Dias 22, M. S. M. Faiz 6 for 48, R. P. Fernando 3 for 43 and L. R. Dassanayake 1 for 19).