The 104th Hill Country Battle of the Blues between Trinity College and St. Anthony’s College is all set to take place on 21 and 22 April at the St. Anthony’s College Grounds in Kandy. It is one of the oldest rivalries in the school cricketing arena.

Both Trinity College and St. Anthony’s College are prestigious boys schools in Kandy with a proud cricketing history. Having produced several world-class cricketers in the course of their rich history, most of them have been a part of the Hill Country Battle of the Blues. 

The tally is in favour of Trinity College who have 23 wins under their belt while St. Anthony’s College have only 12. The rest of the matches have ended in draws. The battle has seen so many matches washed out due to the unpredictable Kandy weather. The weather has also made some games interesting in the recent past. 

Trinity College are holding the John Halangoda Memorial Trophy after claiming it in 2012 under the enigmatic captaincy of Niroshan Dickwella. The Anthonians last tasted victory way back in 1992 under the captaincy of Unesh de Silva. 

This year the Three Lions are led by Rahal Amarasinghe. Under his captaincy, Trinity College became joint champs in the recently-concluded Sri Lanka Schools U19 Division I Tier A 2-day title. Amarasinghe amassed 625 runs this season with the bat.

Kusal Wijethunga is the top run scorer for Trinity with 739 runs while Dinusha Peiris has piled up 722 runs. 

With the ball for the Three Lions, Dinuka Tennakoon is at the top of the list with 76 wickets. 

Tharana Wimaladharama is next with 67 wickets. 

However, their key man with the ball will be Theeraka Ranathunga, who missed most of the season due to U19 National duty. 

The Anthonians are led by Lahiru Abeysinghe. He has led the team with the bat scoring the highest runs (675). He has also chipped in with the ball taking 24 wickets. 

Kavidu Shehan is next in the run getters’ list, with more than 600 runs. 

Mohommad Aaqil and Induwara Galapitage have also amassed over 400 runs. 

With the ball, Kaveesha Piyumal is on top with 62 scalps, including 3 five-fors. 

Thisara Ekanayake is next in line with 60 wickets including 6 five-fors. 

Along with skipper Abeysinghe, mystery spinner Treveen Mathew also has U19 National experience, which will come in hand as they face the arch rivals.