The Uva Thomian Cricket Encounter

S. Thomas’ College Bandarawela will be the more fancied team to win over S. Thomas’ College Gurutalawa in their annual limited overs cricket encounter to be played at the Bandarawela Esplanade on 21 May.

The match will be played for a trophy to commemorate the two Headmasters of Bandarawela and Gurutalawa who were responsible for starting the fixture. They are S.L.A. Ratnayake and Patrick Gunawardene.

They will play to a limited over format as this always has a result at the end, apart from one instance when it had to be abandoned due to bad weather.

STC Bandarawela led by Chanuka Manatunga will field four second year players while the lads from Gurutalawa have only two second year players in the side.

This fixture is one of the most colourful events in the region and the organising committee is instrumental in giving the best entertainment to all visitors though it is not in the magnitude of a Royal-Thomian.

This cricket encounter between the two institutions, both being part of the Thomian family, was started in 1984. The fixture was stopped in 1987 due to a number of reasons. The fixture was resumed after the idea was mooted by the OBA of STC Bandarawela supported by the OBA of STC Gurutalawa and the two Headmasters agreed to continue the ‘Uva Thomian Cricket Encounter’ (UTCE) on a grand scale in 2008.



(TBR)