A new coronavirus wave hitting Sri Lanka has halted a cricket match between two of the country's top schools that has been played for 141 years, continuing even through world wars.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The annual Royal v St Thomas's encounter, originally scheduled for next month, has been indefinitely put off after four players tested positive for Covid-19, a school organiser said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The latest edition of Sri Lanka's longest-running sporting event was to have been played over three days without spectators.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"What would have been the 142nd Royal-Thomian big-match is not likely to be held this year because of the latest Covid wave," the official told AFP.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Even the first and second world wars failed to halt the annual game, that is often compared to the English public school encounter between Eton and Harrow, played since 1805.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Duleep Mendis, who led Sri Lanka to their first Test win and another former captain, Ranjan Madugalle, are among top players to have taken part.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sri Lanka has been hit by a virus surge since Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations on April 14.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The number of daily infections has since risen five-fold to nearly 1,000 and the government has closed all schools and banned public functions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sri Lanka has reported more than 100,000 cases and 647 deaths.
\r\n <\/p>\r\n",
"image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2021\/04\/sri-lanka-cricket-match-that-survived-world-wars-halted-by-virus.jpg",
"alt_img": "Cricket Image for Sri Lanka Cricket Match That Survived World Wars Halted By Virus",
"alt_title": "Sri Lanka Cricket",
"image1": "",
"video": "",
"seo_title": "Sri Lanka Cricket Match That Survived World Wars Halted By Virus ",
"seo_desc": "A new coronavirus wave hitting Sri Lanka has halted a cricket match between two of the country's top schools on Cricketnmore. ",
"seo_keywords": "Sri Lanka Cricket",
"tag": "",
"tagging": "Sri Lanka Cricket,",
"status": "1",
"img_rpt": "0",
"google": "1",
"standout": "0",
"edapps": "0",
"pulse": "0",
"no_index": "0",
"feed": "0",
"fixture": "0",
"slug": "sri-lanka-cricket-match-that-survived-world-wars-halted-by-virus",
"user_id": "0",
"read_count": "0",
"ians_date": "0000-00-00",
"ians_time": "00:00:00",
"server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00",
"trash": "0",
"view_count": "1920",
"page_break": "0",
"instant_articles": "1",
"auto_link": "1",
"created": "2021-04-27 17:02:44",
"updated": "2021-04-27 17:03:18",
"img_from": "Image Source: Google",
"img_source": "",
"schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00",
"news_keywords": "Sri Lanka Cricket, Royal v St Thomas, World War, Cricket",
"livescore_text": null,
"livescore_link": null,
"btn_text": null,
"resend_feed": "0",
"google_feed": "0",
"read_more": "0",
"posted_by": "21",
"jio_date": "2021-04-27 17:02:44",
"scheduled": "0",
"news_now": "1",
"breaking_news": "0",
"google_date": "2021-04-27 17:02:44",
"featured": "0",
"pred_match_id": null,
"article_content_type": null,
"link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/sri-lanka-cricket-match-that-survived-world-wars-halted-by-virus-75025"
}