St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna and Bandaranaike College, Gampaha will make history when they meet in the Inter-School Under-19 Division II two day tournament Group D fixture here in Jaffna today.

It’s the first time a Jaffna District team is drawn in the Under-19 two day tournament in as many as two and half decades and it’s also the first time a team from the southern part of the country braved the tiresome 10 hour journey in more than two and half decades to reach the Jaffna peninsula by A9 road to play cricket.

Although the result of the match is vital for both teams to earn points for their success in the Division II tournament, the historic importance makes the outcome of the match almost immaterial to thousands of cricket loving and peace loving enthusiasts who were waiting for decades to see this moment dawn.

Cricket passed probably its hardest passage of time in the peninsula during the last two and half decades. Playing only among schools within the district and moving out seldom to adjacent districts for Under-15 and Under-17 lower division matches, the talents of the cricketers of war ravaged districts were known only to them.

The war and the transportation difficulties held the cricketers of Jaffna from coming to the southern part of the country and vice versa. There had been instances when combined teams from Jaffna visited south for matches but they were arranged largely for peace promotion activities. This will be the first time teams from south and north meet in a two day tournament match after two and half decades.

The St. Patrick’s College officials said that they played friendly two day matches (home and away) with Ibbagamuwa Central way back in mid 80s but it stopped after war broke out.

St. Patrick’s earned a division II promotion last year when they did well in the Limited Overs tournament and in their Division III two day tournament in the 2008/09 season as they reached Colombo by air for the first time in many decades to interact in sports activities.

Captained by Pathmanathan Navadeevan, St. Patrick’s will look forward to gain the home ground advantage in what would be their first match of the season against a team that has met fluctuating fortunes. Bandaranaike captained by fourth year coloursman Asiri Bandara will be trying to overcome the strain of a 10 hour bus journey to try their luck against Jaffna lads.

The match will commence at St. Patrick’s Ground at 9.30 am today after a brief ceremony.

Kanishka Ravihansa, Ramesh Fernando (V. Capt), Samith Danushka, Kapila Samaraweera, Sunil Nanayakkara, Kanishka Amarasinghe, Asiri Bandara (Captain), Viraj Dharmaratne. Aravinda Palliyaguru, Dinindu Samodana, Pathum Vimukthi, Malindu Perera, Thilina Lakruwan, Ipula Ranasinghe, Ravindu Munasinghe, Anupa Sandeep, Sajith Udayanga, Sanitha Imbulana, Pasindu Madusanka, Gayan Kulathunga