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TRINITY-ANTONIAN ENCOUNTERS – A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Compiled by Afzal Laphir
Editores’ Note; Before we break down the numbers of Trinity-Antonian, as presented by Afzal Laphir, here’s a bit of the Cricketing history of Trinity College Kandy and St. Anthony’s College Kandy. Historical data are gathered from the National Archive of Sri Lanka, by meticulously going through newspaper records between 1883-1899. Quadrangle has all the references and the search/research/verifying of more data is still underway we (both Quadrangle and Afzal Laphir) will continue to update this article as and when more information is gathered or new records are been set as the series continues.
Trinity College -1888
Trinity College took to Cricket during the late 1880’s, the 1st XI Cricket team was back then called ‘Trinity College Cricket Club’. They played against Clubs in Kandy, Matale and also against Military teams (1888-1893) and also against visiting Agriculture School from Colombo (1889-1892). Trinity first played a school cricket encounter in 1892 (and 1893), a 2nd XI match against 1st XI of Kingswood College before playing their official 1st XI School Cricket encounter against Royal College on 07th October 1893 at the Recreation Ground in Kandy. Trinitians then played against Ananda College (1894), St. Thomas’ College Matale (1895), S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia (1898), Wesley College (1903), and St. Joseph’s College (1908).
St. Anthony’s College -1895
St. Anthony’s College Kandy commenced playing cricket during mid 1890’s and as per available records, their first match was played against St. Thomas’ College Matale which was played on 18th and 19th July 1895 at Bogambara which Antonians won by innings and 17 runs. Thereafter played a ‘Day Game’ against St. Joseph’s College in 1899. In 1903 Antonians reorganized their Cricket under Fr. Andrew Van Langenburg who was serving at College, and formed a combined team comprising staff and school boys. The team was called ‘St. Anthony’s College Cricket Club’ and played against Clubs and Dharmaraja College in 1904, and Kingswood College in 1905. In 1906 Antonians fielded a schoolboy team under Benny Lawrence and played against Kingswood College and St. Benedict’s College.
Hill Country Battle of the Blues – Trinity Antonian since 1914
Trinity College and St. Anthnoy’s College played their official 1st XI match in 1914 though teams played against each other in 1910 which mostly comprised of staff and students and not considered under the series tally. In 1914 the match was played at Bogambara Grounds with C.E. de Silva leading Trinity College and C.C Senaratne leading St. Anthony’s College which was won by Antonians by 42 runs surprising all as Trinity College were the joint Schools Cricket Champions in the previous year. Trinity College won in 1915 under R. Ondatjie but the match was not played in 1916. The series commenced again in 1917 when Antonians under J.M. Ferguson won it. Trinity then went on to record 11 consecutive wins from 1918 to 1928. The encounter now played for a trophy in memory of John Halangoda (since 1954) was interrupted in 1916, 1956, 1957, 2001, 2020 and 2021.
Playing Record
| Venue | Period | Played | TCK wins |
SACK wins |
Drawn |
| Asgiriya | 1915 – 2023 | 51 | 13 | 1 | 37 |
| Katugastota | 1938 – 2023 | 40 | 3 | 7 | 30 |
| Bogambara | 1914 – 1935 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| Pallekelle | 2016 – 2017 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| All Venues | 1914 – 2023 | 104 | 23 | 11 | 70 |
Note, The venue of 1915 Trinity-Antonian encounter has been assumed as Asgiriya, which was ceremonially opened on 15 Jan 1915 by the Governor of Kandy Sir Robert Chalmers. Trinity played their first game at Asgiriya on 24 & 25 February 1915 against S Thomas’ Mount Lavinia
Additional facts:
- The 23 wins by TCK were registered in 1915, 1918 to 1928, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1938, 1939, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1951, 1986 and 2012.
- SACK won their games in 1914, 1917, 1929, 1948, 1954, 1962, 1968, 1972, 1981, 1990 and 1992.
- The encounter was not played in 1916, 1956, 1957, 2001, 2020 and 2021.
- The 1956 and 1957 games were cancelled due to a disagreement between the two schools regarding the age rule and in 2001, the encounter did not take place as Trinity terminated their season early in the year due to disciplinary reasons. The games in 2020 and 2021 were postponed and eventually cancelled due to Covid and the situation prevailed in the country.
- Out of 34 outright results generated by both teams, 14 have ended in an innings win (10 by TCK and 4 by SACK).
- Interestingly, despite Trinity’s dominance in the series, the Antonians have a better record post-independence, i.e. from 1948 onwards, with 8 wins to 3.
First Wins:
| Venue | TCK | SACK |
| Asgiriya | 1915 – under R Ondatje | 1981 – by 6 wkts under Fazal Majeed |
| Katugastota | 1938 – by 6 wkts under TB Marambe | 1948 – by 151 runs under L Pamunuwa |
| Bogambara | 1919 – by an innings under J Bandaranayake | 1914 – by 42 runs under CC Senaratne |
| Pallekelle | None | None |
Note: The following records are based on information extracted from the archives of both schools and from newspaper reports where available. Despite the best efforts of the author, the data is incomplete, especially from the 1914 and 1915 games where apart from the results, no other information was available.
Largest Victory Margins:
| Venue | Type | TCK | SACK |
| Asgiriya | by runs | an innings & 120 runs in 1939 | None |
| by wkts | 9 wkts in 1951 | 6 wkts in 1981 (only win at Asgiriya) | |
| Katugastota | by runs | 61 runs in 1944 | an innings & 90 runs in 1962 |
| by wkts | 7 wkts in 1986 | 9 wkts in 1992 | |
| Bogambara | by runs | an innings & 101 runs in 1923 | 63 runs in 1929 |
| by wkts | 9 wkts in 1927 | by 6 wkts in 1917 |
Narrowest Victory Margins:
| Venue | Type | TCK | SACK |
| Asgiriya | by runs | 68 runs in 1947 | None |
| by wkts | 5 wkts in 1924 | 6 wkts in 1981 (only win at Asgiriya) | |
| Katugastota | by runs | 61 runs in 1944 | 151 runs in 1948 |
| by wkts | 6 wkts in 1938 | 7 wkts in 1972 | |
| Bogambara | by runs | 41 runs in 1925 | by 42 runs in 1914 |
| by wkts | 4 wkts in 1931 | 6 wkts in 1917 |
Note: the victory margin and the scorecard of the 1915 encounter at Asgiriya were not available at the time of compiling the records and therefore not considered here.
Highest Totals
| Venue | Team | Highest totals (top 3) |
| Asgiriya | TCK | 329 (1922); 302/8d (2012); 301/9d (1999) |
| SACK | 288/9d (2022); 267/7d (1961); 265/8d (1965) | |
| Katugastota | TCK | 406/8d (1942); 349 (1944); 328 (1970) |
| SACK | 399/8d (1954); 355/7d (1976); 337/5d (1984) | |
| Bogambara | TCK | 295 (1923); 234 (1919); 192 (1927) |
| SACK | 205 (1917); 172 (1929); 150 (1933) |
Lowest Totals
| Venue | Team | Lowest totals (top 3) |
| Asgiriya | TCK | 72 (1949); 96 (1961); 108 (1947) |
| SACK | 27 (1928); 29 (1926); 37 (1951)) | |
| Katugastota | TCK | 54 (1990); 59 (1948); 77 (1968) |
| SACK | 82 (1938); 87 (1946); 103 (1948) | |
| Bogambara | TCK | 92 & 95 (1929); 130 (1921 & 1931) |
| SACK | 78 (1929); 79 (1923); 84 (1933) |
Note: Pallekelle is excluded here due to the lack of games at this venue.
Individual Records:
BATTING:
Highest Score:
| Venue | Team | Highest Scores |
| Asgiriya | TCK | 148 – Kaushalya Weeraratne (1999) |
| SACK | 165 – Ralston Burke (1965) | |
| Katugastota | TCK | 143 – TB Werapitiya (1944) |
| SACK | 176 – ACM Lafir (1954) | |
| Bogambara | TCK | 111 – LC de Mel (1923) |
| SACK | 73 – B Dodanwela (1925) |
First century:
Of the series: Jack Anderson (SACK) 111 in 1918; MDD Jayawardena (TCK) 120 in 1922
at Asgiriya: Jack Anderson (SACK) 111 in 1918; MDD Jayawardena (TCK) 120 in 1922
at Katugastota: TB Werapitiya (TCK) 143 in 1944; R Stephens (SACK) 108 in 1952
at Bogambara: LC de Mel (TCK) 111 in 1923
at Pallekelle: K Uggalpaya (SACK) 108 in 2016
Twin fifties in a game:
Mahesh Gunathilake (SACK) 61 & 62* at Asgiriya (1971)
J Arambepola (TCK) 52 & 52* at Asgiriya (1979)
Marlon Von Hagt (SACK) 61 & 52 at Katugastota (1982)
Chandimal Herath (SACK) 61 & 54 at Asgiriya (2022)
Two hundreds in the Series:
TB Werapitiya (TCK) 100 (1943) and 143 (1944). Also scored 96 (1942)
Ronnie Stephens (SACK) 108 (1952) and 103 (1954)
Three or more 50+ scores in the series:
4 – Marlon Von Hagt (SACK) 61 & 52 (1982), 57 (1983), 123 (1984). Also scored 49 (1979)
3 – TB Werapitiya (TCK) 96 (1942), 100 (1943), 143 (1944)
3 – ACM Lafir (SACK) 65 (1950), 74 (1951) and 176 (1954)
3 – Mahesh Gunathileke (SACK) 76 (1970), 61 & 62* (1971)
3 – Hasitha Boyagoda (TCK) 55* (2016), 90 (2017), 72 (2018)
Note: SA Odayar (TCK), Sajith Fernando (SACK) and Tyrone de Silva (SACK) came close to being part of this group. Odayar made 48 (1927), 60 (1928) and 87 (1930). He missed out in 1929 when the Trinitians were dismissed for 95 and 92 in the two innings giving the Antonians a rare outright win in that period. On the other hand, Sajith scored 70, 46 and 55 in three consecutive games between 1990 to 1992. Tyrone made 49 (2000), 81 (2002) and 64 (2003) and he missed out in 2001 by virtue of the game being cancelled.
Centuries: (Total 30, SACK 19, TCK 11)
| Score | Player | Venue | Year |
| 176 | ACM Lafir (SACK) | Katugastota | 1954 |
| 165 | Ralston Burke (SACK) | Asgiriya | 1965 |
| 155* | Bernard Perera (SACK) | Katugastota | 1976 |
| 148 | Premalal de Silva (SACK) | Asgiriya | 1973 |
| 148 | Kaushalya Weeraratne (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1999 |
| 143 | TB Werapitiya (TCK) | Katugastota | 1944 |
| 133* | Franklyn Burke (SACK) | Katugastota | 1962 |
| 130 | N Dambawinne (TCK) | Katugastota | 1978 |
| 128 | C Wickremasinghe (SACK) | Katugastota | 2019 |
| 127 | Charlie Joseph (SACK) | Katugastota | 1960 |
| 123 | Marlon Von Hagt (SACK) | Katugastota | 1984 |
| 120 | MDD Jayawardena (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1922 |
| 114 | A Wickremasuriya (SACK) | Katugastota | 1984 |
| 114* | S Wijesuriya (TCK) | Katugastota | 2009 |
| 111 | Jack Anderson (SACK) | Asgiriya | 1918 |
| 111 | LC de Mel (TCK) | Bogambara | 1923 |
| 110 | L Ramanayake (TCK) | Katugastota | 1970 |
| 108 | Ronnie Stephens (SACK) | Katugastota | 1952 |
| 108 | K Uggalpaya (SACK) | Pallekelle | 2016 |
| 106^ | Meryl Dunuwille (SACK) | Katugastota | 1970 |
| 103 | Ronnie Stephens (SACK) | Katugastota | 1954 |
| 103 | JS Ratwatte (TCK) | Katugastota | 1960 |
| 103 | Dilshan Witharne (SACK) | Katugastota | 1996 |
| 101* | MTM Zaruk (TCK) | Katugastota | 1964 |
| 100 | TB Werapitiya (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1943 |
| 100* | SW Seneviratne (SACK) | Katugastota | 1958 |
| 100 | W Seneviratne (SACK) | Katugastota | 1964 |
| 100 | Randy Sims (SACK) | Asgiriya | 1969 |
| 100* | RNR de Silva (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1971 |
| 100* | Nuwan Kalpage (SACK) | Katugastota | 1990 |
^Note: Meryl Dunuwille scored the first century on the new turf at Katugastota.
Nervous 90s:
Charlie Joseph is the only Antonian in this group of seven players who reached 90 without going on to a century. He is also the only batter to be stranded in the 90s without being dismissed.
| Score | Player | Venue | Year |
| 96 | TB Werapitiya (TCK) | Katugastota | 1942 |
| 95* | Charlie Joseph (SACK) | Asgiriya | 1959 |
| 93 | P Maralande (TCK) | Bogambara | 1919 |
| 93 | H Wanniarachchi (TCK) | Katugastota | 2011 |
| 91 | H Bandaranayake (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1928 |
| 90 | JA de Silva (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1918 |
| 90 | H Boyagoda (TCK) | Pallekelle | 2017 |
Most Runs:
Marlon Von Hagt has scored the most runs in the series, with 465 runs in 12 innings at an average of 38.75. ACM Lafir (396 runs in 6 games) and TB Werapitiya (350+ runs) occupy the second and third slots.
BOWLING:
Best bowling figures in an innings:
| Venue | Team | Best Bowling in an Innings |
| Asgiriya | TCK | 10/38 – Sudanga Fernando (1997) |
| SACK | 7/92 – HRJ Niyangoda (1939) | |
| Katugastota | TCK | 9/74 – C Dharmalingam (1938) |
| SACK | 7/26 – Piyal Wijetunge (1990) | |
| Bogambara | TCK | 7/44 – RB Ettipola (1925) |
| SACK | 5/44 – LV Jayaweera (1921) |
Best bowling figures in a match:
| Venue | Team | Best Bowling in a Match |
| Asgiriya | TCK | 12/48 – C Dharmalingham (1939) 6/17 & 6/31 (hatrick in each innings) |
| SACK | 12/94 – M Muralitharan (1991) 6/58 & 6/36 |
|
| Katugastota | TCK | 10/82 – GB Perera (1942) 5/63 & 5/19 |
| SACK | 12/81 – Sajith Fernando (1992) 6/39 & 6/52 |
|
| Bogambara | TCK | 9/37 – B Wijewardena (1933) 3/22 & 6/15 |
| SACK | 8/111 – LV Jayaweera (1921) 5/44 & 3/67 |
Three or more 5-wicket hauls in the series:
3 – RB Ettipola (TCK) 5/34 (1922), 5/46 (1923), 7/44 (1925). Also took 4/20 (1924)
3 – C Dharmalingham (TCK) 9/74 (1938), 6/17 & 6/31 (1939)
3 – Pradeep Fernando (SACK) 5/27 (1980), 5/60 & 6/43 (1981). Also took 4/26 (1979)
3 – M Muralitharan (SACK) 6/19 (1990), 6/58 & 6/36 (1991)
Note: PR Maralande (TCK) captured 5/54 (1918), 4/27 (1919), 4/23 & 4/32 (1920) and 7/28 (1922). TOM Deen (SACK) with 4/29 (1952), 5/29 & 6/32 (1953) and 4/52 (1954) also came close to joining the group.
10-wicket match bags: (Total 10, SACK 6, TCK 4)
| Match Bag | Player | Break-down | Venue | Year |
| 12/48 | C Dharmalingham (TCK) | 6/17 & 6/31 | Asgiriya | 1939 |
| 12/81 | Sajith Fernando (SACK) | 6/39 & 6/52 | Katugastota | 1992 |
| 12/94 | M Muralitharan (SACK) | 6/58 & 6/36 | Asgiriya | 1991 |
| 11/60 | TOM Deen (SACK) | 5/29 & 6/31 | Asgiriya | 1953 |
| 11/69 | Sudanga Fernando (TCK) | 1/31 & 10/38 | Asgiriya | 1997 |
| 11/103 | Pradeep Fernando (SACK) | 5/60 & 6/43 | Asgiriya | 1981 |
| 10/39 | Piyal Wijetunge (SACK) | 7/26 & 3/13 | Katugastota | 1990 |
| 10/49 | Bede Perera (SACK) | 4/10 & 6/39 | Katugastota | 1972 |
| 10/78 | EWA Buultjens(TCK) | 3/26 & 7/52 | Asgiriya | 1932 |
| 10/82 | GB Perera (TCK) | 5/63 & 5/19 | Katugastota | 1942 |
Most wickets:
32 PR Maralande (TCK) in 6 games at 8.40
27 Pradeep Fernando (SACK) in 4 games at 11.96
25 RB Ettipola (TCK) in 4 games
Note: C Dharmalingham (TCK) and M Muralitharan (SACK) did outstandingly well in two of the three games they were able to represent, finishing with 21 and 20 wickets respectively for the series. TOM Deen (SACK) with 21 wickets and C Shanmuganathan (TCK) with 19 wickets were also consistent wicket-takers in the series.
Best all-round performances (50+ runs and 4+ wickets in an innings)
| Performance | Player | Venue | Year |
| 77; 4/42 | JA de Silva (TCK) | Bogambara | 1917 |
| 90; 3/5 & 4/27 | JA de Silva (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1918 |
| 93; 4/27 & 3/20 | PR Maralande (TCK) | Bogambara | 1919 |
| 56; 4/23 & 4/31 | PR Maralande (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1920 |
| 83; 3/16 & 7/52 | EWA Buultjens (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1932 |
| 66; 4/73 | Harry Jayasundera (SACK) | Asgiriya | 1932 |
| 85 & 24*; 3/22 & 6/15 | B Wijewardena (TCK) | Bogambara | 1933 |
| 67; 5/63 & 5/19 | GB Perera (TCK) | Katugastota | 1942 |
| 74; 5/46 | ACM Lafir (SACK) | Asgiriya | 1951 |
| 133*; 5/42 & 3/50 | F Burke (SACK) | Katugastota | 1962 |
| 66*; 5/35 | M Joseph (SACK) | Asgiriya | 1963 |
| 50; 7/90 | Shanthilal de Zilwa (SACK) | Katugastota | 1970 |
| 100* & 44; 4/28 | RNR de Silva (TCK) | Asgiriya | 1971 |
| 54*; 4/31 | Bernard Perera (SACK) | Katugastota | 1974 |
| 55; 6/39 & 6/52 | Sajith Fernando (SACK) | Katugastota | 1992 |
| 69; 4/77 & 4/47 | M Palihakkara (SACK) | Katugastota | 1998 |
| 68; 4/50 & 3/40 | Kaushalya Weeraratne (TCK) | Katugastota | 2000 |
| 64; 5/75 | Tyrone de Silva (SACK) | Katugastota | 2003 |
| 61; 2/40 & 4/45 | J Premasinghe (TCK) | Asgiriya | 2012 |
Notes:
- Antonian Franklyn Burke is the only player in the history of Trinity-Antonian encounters to have scored a century and captured a 5-wicket haul in the same match.
- EWA Buultjens (TCK), GB Perera (TCK) and Sajith Fernando (SACK) had the distinction of scoring a half-century and capturing a match bag of 10-wickets in the same game.
- Trinitian PR Maralande (261 runs and 32 wickets in 6 games) has the best record as an all-rounder in the series.
Played in most games:
| Games | Player | Period |
| 6 | PR Maralande (TCK) | 1917 to 1922 |
| 6 | ACM Lafir (SACK) | 1950 to 1955 |
| 6 | Marlon Von Hagt (SACK) | 1979 to 1984 |
| 6 | Sachith Pathirana (TCK) | 2003 to 2008 |
| 5 | Harry Jayasundera (SACK) | 1929 to 1933 |
5 Premalal de Silva (SACK) 1969 to 1973.
Highest Partnerships:
| Score | Wkt | Partners | Team | Venue | Year |
| 266 | 1st | ACM Lafir (176), R Stephens (103) | SACK | Katugastota | 1954 |
| 188 | 4th | J Udukumbure (76), R Burke (165) | SACK | Asgiriya | 1965 |
| 178 | 1st | M Von Hagt (123), A Wickremasuriya (114) | SACK | Katugastota | 1984 |
| 157 | 2nd | H Boyagoda (90), S Shanmuganathan (83) | TCK | Pallekele | 2017 |
| 152* | 1st | HM Muthalib (81*), T Thalakada (69*) | SACK | Katugastota | 1960 |
| 151 | 4th | RNR de Silva (100*), L Ramanayake (79) | TCK | Asgiriya | 1971 |
| 140 | 3rd | E Buultjens (83), S Wijewardena (80) | TCK | Asgiriya | 1932 |
| 134 | 2nd | S Fernando (70), N Kalpage (100*) | SACK | Katugastota | 1990 |
| 130 | 4th | N Dambawinne (130), M Thahir (70) | TCK | Katugastota | 1978 |
| 120 | 1st | F Sirimanne (79), S Pilapitiya (49) | TCK | Katugastota | 1946 |
| 119 | 1st | M Dunuwille (80), S Gunathileke (59) | SACK | Katugastota | 1972 |
| 118 | 3rd | MDD Jayawardena (120), R Gibson (59) | TCK | Asgiriya | 1922 |
| 114 | 3rd | P de Silva (148), S Gunathileke (35*) | SACK | Asgiriya | 1973 |
| 112 | 2nd | P de Silva (148), N Malagamuwa (33) | SACK | Asgiriya | 1973 |
| 111 | 1st | S Jayasinghe (85), D Ratwatte (48) | TCK | Asgiriya | 1989 |
| 107 | 2nd | K Sangakkara (73), V Wijesiri (33) | TCK | Katugastota | 1996 |
| 106 | 3rd | ACM Lafir(65), S Jayasinghe (68) | SACK | Katugastota | 1950 |
| 102 | 1st | W Munasinghe (66), D Gangoda (44) | TCK | Asgiriya | 2007 |
| 102 | 1st | R Wickremapala (73), K Jayaratne (22) | SACK | Katugastota | 1998 |
| 100 | 2nd | M Von Hagt (61), A Dunuwille (57) | SACK | Katugastota | 1982 |
Thank you for the statistics. How many times has TCK/SACK won the first innings when the game was drawn?
Congratulations Afzal on this rather intriguing, in-depth and very interesting analysis and statistic of our two great colleges.
It certainly is a labour of love on your part.
Greatly appreciated.👍
Pradeep Fernando of SACK played from 1977 to 1982 which has been missed please correct me if I’m incorrect Thank you
Pradeep Fernando, didn’t play in the Big Match in 1977 and 1978, although he started his First XI career in 1977.