St. Benedict’s College and Wesley College will take to the field tomorrow (29) in the annual Luke Shield limited-over game at the Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) whilst their 129-year cricketing rivalry will come to life in the traditional two-day encounter for the Cartman Cup that will be battled out on 31 March and 1 April at Lanka’s oldest Test venue the P. Saravanamuttu Oval. The Bens are celebrating their 160th anniversary this year and Wesley marked their 150th year in 2024.
The Benedictines are led by Sharujan Shanmuganathan for the second year in a row – he is also the Sri Lanka Under-19 vice captain – whilst Anuga Pahansara Kodagoda leads the Wesleyites from Campbell Park. St. Benedict’s are the holders of the Cartman Cup and the Luke Shield after their emphatic double feat last year. They have also won the Luke Shield three times in a row.
The chief guests for the traditional Cartman Cup will be from St. Benedict’s Vivian Saverimuttupille (captain-1972) and Lalith Perera (captain-1973) from Wesley Dayalan Sellamuttu (captain-1974) and K. Dayaparan (captain-1975).
The two schools ironically started playing cricket in 1887. Though both St. Benedict’s and Wesley were located in close proximity to each other, they would not meet in cricket until 1895 or to be precise till 1896. The first recorded match was held on 11 and 12 March 1896 at the Racquet Court Grounds, the present-day area in front of the Colombo Fort Railway Station. Wesley won the match by 64 runs.
Bens-Wesley top performers since 1896
Best batting:
2007 – Sangaran Nandalal (SBC) – 137* (only century in the series)
2023 – Sharujan Shanmuganathan (SBC) – 98*
Best all-round performance:
1984/85 – Shanthilal Silva (SBC) – 7/52 & 40 runs
Best bowling:
1943/44 – K. Balakrishnan (WCC) – 8/11
1999 – Farveez Maharoof (WCC) – 6/17
2000 – Farveez Maharoof ( (WCC) – 7/13
2017 – Shenal Dangalle (WCC) – 8/39
2021 – Malinda Perera (SBC) – 6/66
2022 – Ashen De Soyza (SBC) – 5/47
2024 – Uvin Perera (WCC) – 6/34
2024 – Mevan Dissanaike (SBC) – 5/43 & 4/26
Best batting last 5 years:
2021 – Sahil Dias (WCC) – 50
2021 – Semila Liyanage (WCC) – 54
2022 – Sharujan Shanmuganathan (SBC) – 82
2022 – Dilan Thabrew (SBC) – 56
2023 – Sharujan Shanmuganathan (SBC) – 98*
2023 – Viduneth Wilson (SBC) – 73
2023 – Uvin Perera (WCC) – 71
2023 – Sheron Kannangara – 68 (SBC)
2023 – Disula Yapa (WCC) – 59
2023 – Tharanga Fernando (WCC) – 53
Last win:
St. Benedict’s – 2024 – Sharujan Shanmuganathan (c)
Wesley – 2017 – Thisuraka Akmeemana (c)
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Luke Shield: Limited over encounter since 2022
Best Batting:
2023 – Shenal Samarathunga (SBC) – 74
2023 – Linal Subasinghe (WCC) – 56
2024 – Arshan Joseph (SBC) – 63
2024 – Sharujan Shanmuganathan (SBC) – 58*
2024 – Kavindu Amarasinghe (WCC) – 54
Best Bowling:
2022 – Semila Liyanage (WCC) – 4/26
2023 – Sanithu Amarasinghe (WCC) – 5/43