Maroons battle to start the 'March Madness'

The big match fever in the month of March, ‘The March Madness’ as it is sometimes called, has developed into an alluring feature of the country’s culture. This trend starts with pre big match events such as encounters between prefects, masters and old boys of schools, annual debates among students and decorated events like vehicle parades. The ‘Battle of the Maroons’ between Ananda and Nalanda will be the first event signifying the March madness this year on March 7 and 8 at the SSC. This madness continues throughout March and it will end in Galle with the completion of the ‘Lovers’ battle during the first week of April.

These big matches have pre and post big match rituals. These rituals play an important role in the perpetual continuity of these traditional encounters. The magnitude of fun and entertainment provided at these matches draw large crowds to the venues.

The leisure activities undertaken mostly by the alumni of these schools during this period also adds to the government coffers by way of taxes. This phenomenon called ‘big matches’ therefore indirectly serves the society economically, socially and academically. However, as there are no measurement systems to assess the contributions of Big Matches to socio-economic gains, the value of this event is only looked at as a big match, which is an occasion for past pupils to have an annual gathering.

Battle of the Maroons

This event the ‘battle of maroons’ is always greater than what happens at the middle of the ground. The values inherent in this traditional game has inspired the maroons’ community throughout. It commenced in the 1924 - the year Nalanda was registered as a separate school. Since then these two schools have battled for supremacy every year continuously for 90 years sans the period of World War II, the ‘Battle of Maroons’ has always been played not only within the laws of cricket but also within the spirit of the game. The players who had the fortune to play in this great encounter were expected to conform to high standards on and off the field. This encounter gives an ample opportunity to players to showcase their talent in front of a large audience.

Camaraderie continues

The camaraderie built throughout these matches has been fantastic. The maroons battle is enjoyed by all in the spirit of friendship and the camaraderie that it is well known for. The friendships developed at these matches have continued throughout life times. Anandians and Nalandians display real brotherhood at these Big Matches. Every year at the ‘Brothers’ Tent’ real camaraderie is shown with lots of hugging and interaction between past students from the two schools as they all share a common enclosure spanning a large section along the perimetre of the ground. This is the spirit in which the maroons’ battle is enjoyed. Whether Ananda plays better or Nalanda plays better, the brotherhood continues.

Community engagement

The community engagement with big matches that was seen in the past has reduced over the years after the introduction of television and the abundance of international cricket matches telecast on TV. The ‘Battle of the Maroons’ should attract a larger section of the community actively engaged with the encounter for its uninterrupted continuity. The Ananda-Nalanda encounters were much looked forward to cricket matches in the past, specially in 60sand 70s by the Sri Lankan society. The players of the two schools were household names during that period, thanks to the ball by ball live commentaries in sinhala. Premasara Epasinghe and Palitha Perera took the proceedings of this great battle to every corner of the country. I remember how boys of my hometown in Galle inquired about players of my school when we were there during school holidays. They have been listening to the commentaries on radio and were psychologically engaged with the game. Both schools being leading centres of education should look for new ways to get greater society engagement to make this encounter a national event from a socio- economic angle. In this country so absorbed with cricket, anything that is done through cricket for a larger section of the community will be long remembered. Let Ananda and Nalanda take the lead in this aspect.

Can Nalandians turn tables this time?

On paper Nalanda has a better team than Ananda. Nalanda skipper Avishka Perera has already given signals to the authorities, on what kind of a player he is. Having scored two consecutive 1,000 runs in school cricket seasons and an aggressive century in last year’s big match, a lot is expected from him at this big match too. Nalanda has a good bowling attack strengthened by the return of their pacie Chamindu Wijesinghe from national duties. With professional advice and support from the Nalanda Past Cricketers Association headed by Upul Gamage and ably supported by two Ranasinghe brothers Lakshman and Aruna, we can have hopes that Nalandians will turn tables this time by securing a long-awaited victory for Nalanda. Let the result of this encounter not be another boring draw. Let both teams play positive cricket and make this year’s battle result oriented.