BLAST FROM THE PAST

Good old ‘Big Match’ days
True sportsmanship the answer to break deadlock – Niranjan Rodrigo

by Reemus Fernando – Courtesy: The Island of 07 March, 2008.

Can they break the deadlock at least this year? This might be the question running through the minds of not only the Joes and Petes, but many followers, as St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s meet in the 74th ‘Battle of the Saints’ ‘Big Match’ today and tomorrow at the P. Sara Stadium. Despite many strong teams featuring in the past three decades neither side could taste victory after the Suraj Abeysekara led St. Peter’s beat St. Joseph’s in 1978.

‘The Island’ met Niranjan Rodrigo, who was probably the youngest player at the 1978 ‘Battle of the Saints’ ‘Big Match’ recently with these questions. Rodrigo made his debut under the captaincy of Suraj Abeysekara, who is the last captain from either side to taste victory. Incidentally, Rodrigo happened to be the orator at a pre-Big Match Dinner hosted for the present teams, recently.

According to Rodrigo, all that matters is good sportsmanship and positive play. These will pave the way for teams to break the deadlock.

"There are a lot of expectations when ‘Big Matches’ are round the corner. Since it is the ‘Big Match’ no one wants to lose it. Because of that, no one wants to make sporty declarations like the captains of the two teams did in the 1978 match which is still spoken of by the older generation with admiration," said Rodrigo who is now the Director at Aitken Spence Travels.

"A result was possible only because of the sporty declarations of the two captains," said Rodrigo giving a summary of the memorable ‘Big Match’.

St. Joseph’s batting first scored 217 for 9 declared and St. Peter’s struggling in their reply, declared at 161 for 8 with a deficit of 56 runs. In their second innings St. Joseph’s declared their innings at 127 for 6 and offered the Petes a target of 184 to win in the last session. St. Peter’s reached it for the loss of four wickets.

"It was a crucial decision by Abeysekara as we had a deficit of over 50 runs. In return St. Joseph’s captain Shamilal de S. Wijeratne too made a bold decision. We had to chase over 180 runs in the last session. We lost two quick wickets. In most cases, the team would have put up shutters and played for a draw. Despite losing two quick wickets for nine runs, the team played positively. Kitto Fernandopulle scored an unbeaten 65. Rohan Buultjens with 73 runs and Walter Fernando contributing with some useful quick runs, we managed to achieve the target with three overs to spare. And the achievement left a lasting legacy in the Joe-Pete ‘Big Match’ history," described Rodrigo.

Playing only his first ‘Big Match’ Rodrigo was not ready for great heroics but he made a reasonable contribution which he still cherishes. "I couldn’t make a big contribution but I took a brilliant catch to dismiss the opposition captain," recalled Rodrigo.

The declarations

The decision to declare with a deficit of over 50 runs was something that could be expected only from a team with a lot of confidence. Asked what made the captain take such a decision Rodrigo explained; "The captain was very much confident that the team could do better in the second innings in all departments. In the lead up to the ‘Big Match’ we had done well against a number of formidable teams. We restricted Prince of Wales to 33 runs, Ananda to 34 runs and Nalanda College to 67 runs in our two day matches. Abeysekara had the confidence that the team would make in the second innings."

Meanwhile, Rodrigo added that the decision was taken by the captain alone and there were no influence from anybody. In the 1978 St. Peter’s were coached by Dr. H. I. K. Fernando and ironically, St. Joseph’s were coached by Tony Opatha, the former St. Peter’s player who also represented Sri Lanka at National level.

Referring to the strengths of the two teams, Rodrigo recalled that several players in the two teams went on to represent Sri Lanka at deferent levels. "Kitto Fernandopulle played for Sri Lanka Under-19 against Australia Under-19 where the likes of David Boon featured. And Rohan Buultjens went on to skipper Sri Lanka Under-23. From St. Joseph’s, Rohan Wijesinghe (Jnr) played for Sri Lanka Junior teams. While Vinothan John who was also a member of the St. Peter’s team went on to represent Sri Lanka, Rumesh Ratnayake who also became a household name in Sri Lanka, was a reserve in that match. Later, he was the vice captain for St. Peter’s in 1982.

Rodrigo urged both captains, Ruwantha Fernandopulle (St. Joseph’s) and Anuk Silva (St. Peter’s) to show the qualities of true sportsmanship at the 74th encounter that begins at the P. Sara Stadium.

Rodrigo, who played for St. Peter’s for five years went on to captain the college in 1983.

The team picture of St. Peter’s College who won the 1978 ‘Big Match’
Standing from left: Niranjan Rodrigo, A. Fonseka, Treherne Pereira, Rumesh Ratnayake, A. Dassanayke, Michael Elias, B. Mohamad Ali, J. Abeyguneratne, S. Perera.

Seated from left: Austin Fernando (MiC), Walter Fernando, C. (Kitto) Fernandopulle (V. Captain), Suraj Abeysekera (Captain), Rohan Buultjens, Vinothen John, Dr. H.I.K. Fernando (Coach)
On Ground: Groundsmen Nicholas and Somadasa. 
 

Tyrone Le Mercier – Represented St. Peter’s College for five
years and best remembered for his brilliant 235 n.o. against
Antonians

By Upali Obeyesekere – Inaugural President, Josephian-Peterite Alumni Association – Canada (1993).

Tyrone with his wife Jean

Going down memory lane, one cannot forget a name that was synonymous with school cricket in Ceylon, in the late fifties and early sixties. Tyrone Le Mercier was a household name having started his cricket career early in life playing for St. Peter’s College, Colombo in 1959 at age 16. He eventually captained the Peterites in 1963. In an interesting bit of trivia, Tom Le Mercier, Tyrone father was No.4 batsman for the invincible Josephian team in 1933 under Robert Fernando. Le Mercier senior was a batsman and did not bowl and scored 32 runs in the 1933 “Big Match”. The Josephians won this game by an innings and 105 runs.

One must remember that school cricket was very competitive at the time and the standard of cricket was very high. Most schools had players who went on to represent clubs at the premier “Sara Trophy” level and also nationally. Names that come to mind include Michael Tissera, Anura Tennekoon, Sarath Seneviratne, L.S. Perera, Ronnie Reid, Lareef Idroos (S. Thomas’); David Heyn, Anton Perera, Premasiri Athukorale, Richard Heyn, Adiel Anghie (St. Peter’s); Yatagama Amaradasa, T.D. Rajapaksa, Mohanlal Fernando (Ananda); Nihal Amaradasa (Nalanda); Lorensz Pereira, Darrel Lieversz, S.S. Kumar, Michael Dias, Vijay Malalasekara, Chanaka de Silva (Royal); Priya Perera, Raja de Silva, Tissa de Soysa, Hillary Marcelline, Brian Perumal (St. Joseph’s); Charlie Joseph, Bunny Stevens, Michael Raj, Michael Joseph (St. Anthony’s); T.B. Kehelgamuwa (Dharmaraja); Sarath Wickramaratne, Darrel Maye, Raja Athukorale (Wesley), Sunil Perera, M.T.M. Zarook, Jayantissa Ratwatte (Trinity); Ranjith Fernando, Sunil Fernando, Felix Dias, Neville Casiechetty, Elmo Rodrigopulle (St. Benedict’s) and many others.

Getting back to Tyrone Le Mercier, it was 1959 as a 16-year old he had his baptism to school cricket when he was picked as a leg spinner for St. Peter`s College who had a terrific team that year. Le Mercier bowled left-arm but batted right hand and had a good season but really shone at the Silver Jubilee “Josephian-Peterite Big Match” under the captaincy of Brian Seneviratne. Others in the Peterite team were Richard (Dicky) Alles, Mark de Silva, Randy Layman, Premasiri Athukorale, Adiel Anghie, Richard
Heyn, Anton Perera, Desmond Dharmarajah, and Elmo Gunasekara. The Josephians were led by Claude Perera and included among others Hilary Marcelline, Primrose Fernandopulle, Raja de Silva, Tissa de Soysa, Priya Perera, Travis Perera, and
Kumar Amarasekara. The match ended in a draw but is best remembered for a brilliant spell of spin bowling by 16-year old Tyrone Le Mercier who picked up six wickets for 30 runs in 17.3 overs against a strong Josephian batting line-up. He had the wickets of top batsmen Raja de Silva, Tissa de Soysa, Priya Perera, Travis Perera and Lucky Fernando. Le Mercier swiftly demolished the top order batsmen and the Josephians were back in the pavilion for 157 runs with skipper Claude Perera (26), Hilary Marcelline (55) and Primrose Fernandopulle (20) entering double figures. The Peterites replied with 161 runs for 9 wickets
with Richard Alles (38), Mark de Silva (60) and Richard Heyn (26) been the chief scorers. The Josephians, in their 2nd innings declared at 111 for 7 wickets leaving the Peterites to make 107 runs in about 17-overs. Le Mercier had 2 for 26 in 14-overs and a match bag of 8 wickets in his very first “Big Match”. More importantly though was the fact that he signalled to other schools a naturally gifted ‘leg-spinner’ was born. Le Mercier played in the 1960 Peterite team under Premasiri Athukorale; in 1961 under Adiel Anghie; 1962 under Richard Heyn and captained in 1963. Sadly the “Big Match” was drawn and the Peterites did not
enjoy a victory lap from 1959-1963. But these golden years produced some of the best Peterite cricketers who went on to make a mark in Ceylon, U.K., and Australia. Tyrone Le Mercier had the distinct pleasure of playing alongside greats like Darrel Wimalaratne, David Heyn, Richard Heyn, Maurice Deckker, Peterde Niese, Travis Fernando, Tissa Jayaweera, Rohan Abeysundera, Richard Alles, Didacus de Almeida, Premasiri Athukorale, Adiel Anghie, demon fast bowler who now lives in Los Angeles Anton Perera, Randy Layman, Brian Seneviratne, and Desmond Dharmarajah. Sadly, to my knowledge some of these players (Darrel Wimalaratne, Richard Alles, Didacus de Almeida, Premasiri Athukorale, Brian Seneviratne) are no more and may their souls rest in peace!

Tyrone Le Mercier was best known as a wily left-arm spinner but over time developed into a reliable middle order righthand
bat. In 1960, he was picked “Best Schools’ Bowler” over Priya Perera (SJC), Yatagama Amaradasa (Ananda), M.L. Idroos (S. Thomas’), and Anton Perera (SPC). Dashing Ananda all-rounder Yatagama Amaradasa was picked `Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year“ that year. In 1960 and 1961, Antonian cricketer Charlie Joseph was chosen “Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year”.

1962 was a memorable year for Tyrone Le Mercier. He was Vice Captain to Richard Heyn in the strong Peterite team. Few would recall the classic unbeaten double-century (235 n.o.) Tyrone scored against the Antonians, in Katugastota. Le Mercier had 30 fours and 2 sixes in his marathon knock which lasted little less than four hours. At that time double centuries in school cricket were rare. So, for a few days, the Peterite left-arm leg spinner (remember his 4 for 21 vs Royal and 5 for 8 vs St. Benedict’s) dominated the back page of the mainstream print media. His innings was even compared with record breaking knock of Jack Anderson. “The scintillating unbeaten 235 of Le Mercier was not only the best individual score for the current season but also
the highest since Antonian Jack Anderson’s 291 against the Thomians, in 1918. This splendid achievement admits Tyrone Le Mercier to that select circle of batsmen who have scored double centuries in inter school cricket.”

Following is a compilation of Peterite batsmen who have scored over 150 runs in one inning. Interesting to note that Angelo Perera (4) and Clive Inman (2) are the only Peterites batsmen who had more than one score of 150 runs in their school career. Tyrone Le Mercier is the second highest scorer among the Peterites so far.

1. Angelo Perera – 239 vs Nalanda in (2008)

2. Tyrone Le Mercier – 235 n.o. vs St. Anthony`s (1962)
3. Clive Inman – 204 (Retd Hurt) vs St. Joseph`s (1954)
4. Angelo Perera – 188 vs Revatha MV (2008)
5. Asanga Perera – 178 vs Ananda Sastralaya (1992)
6. Denham Perera – 170 vs St. Benedict`s (2009)
7. H.I.K. Fernando – 165 vs Ananda (1952)
8. Gihan de Silva – 164 vs St. Thomas`- 2002
9. Eric Schokman – 161 vs Zahira (1941)
10. Malinda Warnapura – 159 vs St. Joseph`s (1998)
11. Rory Inman 158 vs St. Thomas' (1968)
12. Angelo Perera 157 vs Kalutara Vidyalaya (2008)
13. Angelo Perera 155 no vs Maris Stella (2008)
14. Clive Inman 154 n.o. vs Nalanda (1955)
15. Sylvester Fernando 154 vs Nalanda (1944)
16. Russel Arnold 153 no vs St. Thomas' (1992)
17. Kitto Fernandopulle 152 no vs Moratu Vidyalaya (1978)
18. Rohan Paulpillai 151 vs Zahira (1986)
19. Shanaka Wickremasekera 150 n.o. vs St. Sylvester's (2004)
20. Frank Hubert 150 vs Thurstan (1975)

Where is Tyrone today?
Tyrone Le Mercier joined the tea trade upon leaving school and immigrated to Australia in the early seventies. He married his childhood sweetheart Jean (nee de Zilwa) and now lives in Melbourne. They have one son – Michael. A simple, unassuming, and soft spoken cricketer of yester-year – Tyrone and Jean enjoy visiting Sri Lanka, U.K., U.S.A. and places. He visits family often in Los Angeles, California and even visited us here in Toronto about five years back and was happy to patronise the local Dinner Dance with the Gypsies presented by the combined Josephian – Peterite Alumni Association of Canada. He loves meeting his former school mates and those who played alongside him in the five years he represented his Alma Mater. Pictured here are Tyrone and Jean in a recent photo.

(The writer Upali Obeyesekere is from Toronto, Canada and a school mate of Tyrone Le Mercier. Any comments from our readers’ are welcome. Please e-mail upaliobey@rogers.com )

(Courtesy: Sunday Observer – 22 February, 2004)
Once again it is Big Match time and we are back at the Oval to witness the 2004 encounter. I have had the privilege of having witnessed every single match since the 1963 encounter – bar the game in 1965 when a bout of flu enforced a break. The last 41 encounters have left me with many unforgettable memories of great batting and bowling performances and being a Peterite, I must be pardoned if I tend to remember more of the exploits of Peterites. Due to restrictions of space I will confine my memories to Games that ended in a result or had close finishes.

Earliest memories begin with the 1963 game where I vividly remember Maurice Deckker and David Heyn trash the Josephian bowlers to all parts of the field during a hurricane unbroken partnership of 73. Several sixes landed on the galvanized sheets of the students' tent. One of them dislodged a sheet which came tumbling down. I also have vivid memories of Deckker splitting a bail in the process of clean bowling a Josephian batsman. St. Joseph's pursuing a victory target of 208 were struggling to avoid defeat at 118/7 at the close and survived thanks to a battling 50 by stumper Placidus Liyanage.

The '65 game was the last to be played at the SPC ground. Both teams were packed with outstanding players. I missed this match but closely followed the radio commentaries. The Peterite captain Travice Fernando bowled St. Peter's to a memorable victory. The aggressive batting of Darrel Wimalaratne and Charlie Goonesena played no small part, specially in the second innings when they gave the Peterites a flying start in the pursuit of 94 runs in around 50 minutes.

Controversial game

The 1967 match was perhaps the most controversial game of the series. The Joes won the toss and batted first. Denham Juriansz help to restrict them to 142 with a 6 wicket haul. In their turn the Peterites soon found themselves in a great deal of trouble collapsing to 35/9. Ronnie Gunaratne batting at No. 11 and Nihal Gunawardena swelled the score to 81 with a last wicket stand of 46. Ronnie top scored with 33.

In their 2nd essay, the Joes found the bowling of Tony Opatha and Denham Juriansz too hot to handle and were bowled out for 102, leaving the Peterites 164 to win.

The Peterites lost wickets at regular intervals in the process of crawling towards their target. At 161, Skipper Tony Opatha was run out attempting a second run. The scoreboard operators in their excitement credited St. Peter's with two runs and the scoreboard read 162 instead of 161.

The new batsman Nirmalendren scored a single which was recorded on scoreboard as the 163rd run. Lalith Silva taking strike scored another single, at which point the Josephian fielders ran off with the stumps.

On checking the scorebook it was found that the actual total was 163 and not 164 as was incorrectly indicated on the scoreboard. The game was subsequently awarded to St. Peter's but this left an unsavoury taste in the mouth. The fact that the Josephian fielders ran off the field compelled the umpires to award the match to the Peterites.

Looking back at first few years at the Joe-Pete, memories go back to many boyhood heroes. The teams of that era seemed to have been packed with outstanding players – or so it seemed to a boy in the primary and middle school. The names that come readily to mind are Tyronne Le Mercier, David Heyn, Maurice Deckker, Travice Fernando, Darrel Wimalaratne, Peter de Niese, Ravindra Fernando (I remember him making a century against Royal in 1964). The Patternott brothers, Aubrey, Rodney and Hamish, Tony Opatha, Ronnie Gunaratne (His century against Royal in 1968 ranks as one of the best I have seen) Denham Juriansz and Rory Inman of St. Peter's. The Joes were equally well represented with name like Chris Moreira, Joy and Berchman de Alwis, Placidus Liyanage, Polycarp Wijesekera, Alan de Costa, Victor Wimalasingham, Anil Peiris, Lalith de S. Wijeyaratne, Brian Obeysekera, Vernon Davidson and Hector Perera.

The Joes were led by Hector Perera in 1970. The Peterites batting first were all at sea against Rajiv Benedict and were bowled out for 105. Benedict took 6 wickets. The Joes rattled up a quick 252/7. When the Peterite batted a second time Chrishantha de Alwis the Peterite opener greeted Benedict's first 4 balls with boundaries. However, the Peterites eventually folded up for 164 leaving the Joes to score a mere 18 to win, which they did without a loss of a wicket. Benedict took 4 wickets in the second innings to end up with a match-bag of 10.

Fightback

The 1971 game saw a magnificent fight back from the Peterites. Batting first, the Joes declared their innings closed at 223/9. Once again the Peterites floundered against Rajiv Benedict and were bowled out for 121, Benedict taking another 5 wicket haul. Following-on, Chrishantha de Alwis – as he did in the previous year – treated Benedict with scant respect, once again hitting him for 4 boundaries in the first over. The 1st wicket pair raised the 50 in only 28 minutes. After two quick wickets were lost by the time the score reached 60, Roy Dias joined de Alwis and really got stuck into the tired Josephian bowlers. The 100 was raised in 60 minutes. The Peterites eventually declared at 235/8 scored in only 175 minutes of batting, leaving the Joes to score 135 to win in 62 minutes. The Joes made an attempt at this target but had to close shop when Gamini Goonesena took 3 quick wickets. They ended up at 88.6.

The 1972 game is probably the one all Peterites would like to forget. Batting first, the Peterites struggled to 112 all-out. In reply, the Josephians made their merry way to a quick 235 for 7 declared. Going-in for the second time, the Peterites were destroyed once again by the Benedict hoodoo and were bowled out for 36 – their lowest ever total in the series. Benedict had the magnificent figures of 14.5-12-06-08 – the best figures by a Josephian bowler at the Big-match (until it was bettered by Shinal Warnakula who took 9 wickets many years later) Two wickets in the First Innings gave him yet another 10 wicket haul at the big match.

The Peterites captained by the outstanding left-arm spinner Gamini goonesena hit back with a vengeance in 1973. Put into bat, they made 200/6 thanks to a century by Edgar Tavarayen. The Joes managed only 100 all out and were asked to follow-on. Fresher, Gerald Solomons who took 3 wickets in the first innings bowled a deadly spell to send the Joes crashing to 161 in their second innings. Solomons' figures read 28.5-10-43-07. The Peterites made the required run for the loss of 4 wickets to achieve a remarkable victory against all odds.

The 1978 encounter once again saw a result when the Josephian skipper Shamilal de S. Wijeyaratne made a generous declaration setting the Peterites a target of 180 in 140 minutes. St. Peter's lost two quick wickets for 12 runs but the next pair of Kitto Fernandopulle and Rohan Buultjens tore into the Josephian attack and set up a most unexpected victory for the Peterites. Walter Fernando added the finishing touches after the dismissal of Buultjens.

Buultjens – unbeaten centuries

Although the 1979 game did not produce a result, it will be long remembered for Rohan Buultjens' twin unbeaten centuries – The first and only occasion this has been achieved at the Joe-Pete. This effort by Buultjens overshadowed a fine opening partnership of 191 runs between the Josephian pair of Rohan Wijesinghe (Jr) and Ashley de Silva which came within 6 runs of equalling the record for the 1st wicket. During this partnership, we saw an enthralling battle between them and the Peterite fast bowlers Vinodhan John and Rumesh Ratnayake who bowled unchanged throughout the first session on the 2nd day. Incidentally 3 of the 4 players involved went on to represent the country while the fourth – Rohan Wijesinghe – gave-up cricket, I believe, to concentrate on his studies but not before he represented Sri Lanka under 19 against the Australian team that included David Boon.

A succession of draws followed thereafter, most of them boring and leaving very few memories of outstanding moments. This streak of draws has now extended up to date. As a result the game lost spectator interest. After the 1982 game ended in a forgettable draw, there was a spark of interest in 1983 when set to make 203 to win after collapsing for 113 in the first innings, the Joes led by a rollicking unbeaten 66 by Johathan Alles almost made it, falling short by a mere 18 runs.

The 1986 encounter was brought alive by perhaps the best innings that has been witnessed – played by Rohan Paulpillai, a classic left hander cast in the mould of great Peterite left-handers Joe Misso, Clive Inman and Rohan Buultjens. Set to make 211 to win in less than even time, Paulpillai tore into the Josephian attack in a majestic display of perfect cricket shots. He eventually perished at 125 and the Peterites fell short by only 19 runs.

It is curious that left-handers have been closely associated with Peterite success. Amazingly 11 of the 14 Peterite centurions have been left-handers. Similarly 5 out of the 7 winning captains have also been left-handers. A further point of interest is that 6 of the 7 winning captains have been bowlers, the exception being Clive Inman who was in any case was considered a genuine all-rounder as a schoolboy. In fact under his leadership, he had a haul of 5 wickets in the Josephian 2nd innings to set up the Peterite victory in 1955.

Spectators absent

From 1987 the venue was shifted to Khettarama. This was perhaps the beginning of the end for the Joe-Pete. Spectators kept away in large numbers and up to today they have not been lured back despite the move back to the Sara Stadium. A series of boring, forgettable draws ensued, with the exception of 1990 when an amazing spell of 8-16 by Dinesh Kekultota set St. Peter's up with a great chance for a victory. Set to score 87 in 18 overs, the Peterites made an absolute hash of it and ended struggling at 64 for 6 when stumps were drawn.

The Game was moved back to the Sara stadium in 1995. This failed to break the trend of a spate of boring draws. However, the 1997 game finally gave the spectators something to cheer about as it inched towards a nail-biting finish. After St. Peter's who batted first gained the narrowest of a 1 run 1 innings lead. In the 2nd innings, Shinal Warnakula ripped through the Peterite batting with figures of 9/40 – the best bowling performance of the series by a bowler of either side – to have the Peterites floundering at 77/9. However, a fighting last wicket stand of 45 between Dilshan Rupasinghe and the baby of the side, diminutive Chrishantha Peiris took St. Peter's to some degree of safety at 122 all-out. This left the Joes 124 to win but Peiris had not finished with them. He chipped in with a burst of 4/27 to have the Joes reeling at 106/8 at the close. The game could have gone either way.

The authorities had enough of the poor crowds and drawn games. In order to make the game interesting, a new format was introduced in 2000. Each side was restricted to 60 overs in the first innings. St. Peter's batting first reached 248 all-out in 59.4 overs. Kaushal Lokuarachchi top scored with 82 and Malin Silva contributed 59. When bad light stopped play a few minutes before the scheduled close, St. Joseph's had reached 128/4 but had consumed 45.2 overs in doing so. Ian Daniels was unbeaten on 80. A few minutes after the close of play, all hell broke loose around the Sara Stadium.

The LTTE cadres who had launched a terrorist attack on the parliament road sought refuge in the flats just outside the oval. The Army and the Air Force surrounded the area and prevented any movement of vehicles or personnel. Around 40 to 50 people were trapped inside the stadium until 7.30 am the next morning. My son and I were among them. A curfew was declared around the area and the game had to be called-off. An opportunity for an interesting finish was thus lost.

The 2002 game is the one that came closest to a result since the Peterite victory in 1978. It was a thrilling encounter and it was a pity that so much time was wasted due to continuous crowd invasions forcing the umpires to call-off the match due to bad light with St. Josephs needing 3 runs and St. Peter's needing to capture 1 more wicket in the 4 balls left. St. Peter's taking first lease of the wicket were bowled out for 200 with 1 ball remaining of their allotted 60 overs. St. Joseph's in their turn were bundled out for 139 in 36.2 overs. St. Peter's did not fare too well in their second essay and were bowled out for 162, leaving St. Joseph's 224 to win. What a chase it was, with fortunes continuously swinging either way until the last ball was bowled.

Living Legends – David Heyn

Dashing David a top-notch left-hander

Courtesy: NATION – By Sa�adi Thawfeeq
Dashing, debonair, flamboyant are some of the words that were used to describe the batting of David Heyn who was an integral part of the Ceylon and Sri Lanka teams of the sixties through to the seventies. Heyn, a left-hander was a high-class middle-order batsman whose consistency made him an automatic choice for the national side along with Anura Tennekoon, the former Sri Lanka captain. He was also an outstanding fielder in the covers and he bowled right-arm seam even opening the bowling for his country.

�From 1966 to 1976 when I left, Anura and I were never dropped. We were two consistent players and we played all 20 unofficial tests,� Heyn told The Nation. �I missed two of them due to injury one with a dislocated finger in the third test at Karachi in 1966 and the second in 1974 when India�s fast bowler (Pandurang) Salgaoncar broke my finger off the second ball I faced in a match played up in Kandy between the first and second tests. The injury healed fortunately for me to go to Pakistan the following month. Despite my brazen nature and everything I was never dropped.�

From a batsman who loved to entertain the crowd with a quick and short innings Heyn developed into a solid middle-order batsman as his cricket progressed so much so that he was a feared left-hander whom many opposing teams wanted to see the back of as early as possible. He sometimes proved to be a thorn to other sides as Sri Lanka fought against all odds to raise their standard of cricket internationally in order to convince the ICC that they were worthy of Test status.

�I was fortunate to play in an era where we played a lot of intensive cricket and that helped us gain full Test status. I see the era of the seventies a crossing over from amateur cricket to professional cricket once we got full Test status,� said Heyn. �My father�s era of the 40s, 50s and the early 60s was sort of whistle-stop matches and matches were few and far between. The seventies were more intensive if you look at the stats myself and Anura, the amount of first-class matches we played compared to the guys before us. Only matches against foreign opposition were counted as first-class here. We enjoyed it and we were fortunate that some of the companies were very generous and we were almost going to be professional cricketers. We were sort of the launch pad for the professionals who came later.

�The big sides like England, Australia, West Indies and New Zealand never came here. They only popped in when they went to India or Pakistan. We were able to get them over with only a small amount of money and looking after them here. That�s not what the ICC wanted. If we were going to achieve full Test status we were able to pay them a guaranteed amount. What I knew of the situation then, because of various exchange control sanctions and things like that, it was never going to happen. So the ICC was reluctant to give us full Test status even though they knew our standard was high,� he said.

Despite the ICC ignoring Sri Lanka, close neighbours India and Pakistan, who were sponsoring Sri Lanka�s cause, played a lot of matches, India even going to the extent of extending the Gopalan trophy match to a mini-tour by including two or three additional matches. �It was hard conditions, matting wickets, bad outfield but good opposition. We were playing sides that had invited players like Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Vishwanath, Abid Ali. You name it all the Indian Test players at some time or another played against us. Some of them like Vishwanath were totally unknown when they played against us. They made their names after that. It was a good grounding for us.

�It was hard. Travelling to India was by plane but there were very few internal flights and we travelled by train. The good thing about that was that the first-class carriages we travelled were air-conditioned, there was a coach for us alone and we were treated well that way. Accommodation was mainly good, where there were hotels they put us up in them. Because we were playing so much of cricket we got a settled side. By the time I left in 1976 we had the nucleus of the side that played in 1982 in the first Test match. Only a few of the older guys were replaced by very good younger guys like Ranjan Madugalle, Arjuna Ranatunga, Ashantha de Mel and Sidath Wettimuny those are the four new names that came into that side for the very first Test,� Heyn said.
Undoubtedly the highlight of Heyn�s career was the 1975-76 tour to India where he was in his element as a batsman, bowler (right-arm medium-pace swing) and fielder. In 8 first-class matches he aggregated 647 runs (avg. 43.13) and hit two centuries one of which was in the first unofficial test played at Hyderabad where he scored 104. He missed out on a century in each innings when he was dismissed for 84 in the second innings.
�Obviously in the lead up to that tour I was hitting a peak. I did well in 1974 when we went to Pakistan, then the same year when India came to us. The World Cup tour in 1975 was not the greatest. It was a mixture of matches and in 1975-76 the Indian tour was the highlight of my career,� said Heyn. �If I had continued playing I don�t know how well I would have performed whether I was reaching my peak or whether I had reached my peak I don�t know. I gave up in 1976 because we were not getting full Test status. It was going to be decided in June 1976 but the indications I got was that we weren�t going to get it. I was 30 at the time and could have been at my peak.

�It was a fantastic experience playing India in their own conditions against a bowling attack comprising the world best spinners at the time � (Bishen) Bedi, (Erappalli) Prasanna and (Bhagwat) Chandrasekhar. They also had two good seamers in Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath and they were good fielders as well. It was an experience getting a hundred and 84 in the first unofficial test against them. I was disappointed I didn�t get a second hundred. The �nightwatchman� Daya Sahabandu outlasted me. I was supposed to look after him. We almost saved the test match for Bandu and Tony (Opatha) put a good partnership after that as well. Two things really if I had got a second hundred it might have saved the match but that wasn�t to be,� he said.
Sri Lanka lost the test by eight wickets. They also lost the second test by 64 runs but fought back to draw the third. Heyn not only excelled with the bat he also opened bowling for his country with Opatha sharing the new ball and seaming it around. He took nine wickets on tour at a cost of 22.33.

�What happened was we had Dennis Chanmugam on tour. He played in the first two matches against Central Zone and North Zone and looked to be ineffective on those two pitches. So what was decided was that we would play the three spinners DS (de Silva), Ajith (de Silva) and Lalith (Kaluperuma), Tony of course was a fantastic bowler. Then it was the question of whether it was me or Sahabandu who was going to share the new ball with him. We played four bowlers plus the batsmen. It was very successful so we did the same thing for the three tests and for the two tests against Pakistan that followed,� said Heyn.

If the 1975-76 Indian tour was the most memorable in Heyn�s career then his maiden overseas tour to Pakistan in 1966 proved to be bad experience. �We had a hard time in Pakistan. The ground was brown and the umpiring was not the greatest. We started quite well in the three warm-up matches. We had three unofficial tests and the first test was controlled by Hanif Mohammad in every which way. Both my decisions in the first test were dodgy (he was give caught behind in the first innings and lbw in the second innings).
�The Pakistani umpires were notorious for giving batsmen out. I was really disappointed the first time I was given out caught behind when I wasn�t. In the second innings Stanley (Jayasinghe) and I were batting well. We had put on 52 runs in almost two hours. I had one scoring shot for two runs in the partnership. We got up to tea time and there was only 1� hours play after tea. We were going to save that match because we were only five down. But they picked me first ball after tea. I was given out lbw outside the off stump off Saeed (Ahmed). The moment the ball hit my pads the finger went up straight. There obviously was some planning done during tea time. That�s why I was disappointed,� said Heyn.

�After that Herbie (HIK Fernando) was caught and bowled off a bump ball. They just took care of the tail pretty quickly in that last session. They had seven overs to get 40 odd runs and they got it in 3 overs. They were 8-ball overs and we didn�t stand a chance. That wasn�t good for morale really and the next two tests we sort of didn�t compete. There must have been an element of fear and eagerness to please the Pakistan hierarchy by the umpires. The standard was very poor,� he said.

�We knew it was going to be hard in Pakistan but this made it harder for us. We felt that had it not been for the poor decisions we could have saved the match and our mentality would have been different for the next two tests. The guys were not 100 percent for the next two matches. That was a bad tour in 1966. But when I went in 1974 I was very pleased the umpiring standards had improved tremendously and I could safely sweep a bowler like Intikhab (Alam) when he bowled outside the leg stump. They constantly appealed but the umpires never gave me out. You could see that it was a totally different scenario.�

Apart from the bad umpiring that tour was unique in the sense that David was selected to represent his country at cricket and his brother Richard (who was no mean cricketer having played for St Peter�s College and BRC) was picked in the Sri Lanka hockey team for the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1966.
�I�ve no idea how I got to play cricket but my brother and I played cricket down the lane. Dad didn�t have any big influence over us but we used to go and watch matches at the BRC. We just picked up the game naturally playing tennis ball cricket on the road,� said Heyn whose father the late Major-General BR Heyn was a former Ceylon cricketer and later a cricket administrator in the Sri Lanka Cricket Board.

�I was playing under 12 cricket when I was eight for St Peter�s. My first year with the first eleven team was in 1961. I played for St Peter�s for four years (captain in 1964) but I never got a hundred and I didn�t get a fifty in my first and last years because the way I played my cricket. My batting was bright and breezy knocks and the public liked it. The last two years I bowled a lot more and got a lot of wickets. Even in junior cricket I was a good fielder, it came naturally to me and I liked fielding. I wanted the ball to come to me. It progressed as I went up the ladder. I did field in the slips as well but cover was my favourite position because you could dive and fall around and run after the ball and throw it in.� At the end of 1964 Heyn was picked to play for Sri Lanka Board XI against the Pakistanis and he was twelfth man for the unofficial test.

One of Heyn�s main complaints during his time was that there were hardly enough matches to learn from one�s mistakes. �To learn from your mistakes the only way was to take it back to your club matches. I put my head down and batted curbing my natural instincts. I started building an innings more than trying to hit the cover off the ball. My batting matured and it came latterly from playing against good bowling. Our club scene was getting more intense and we were playing better grade cricket. The Sara trophy was getting more competitive and I went from BRC to NCC. I was playing with better cricketers and on turf wickets than on matting and that also helped. The older guys were fading away from the sixties era and the new guys were coming through. Overall, things like a jigsaw puzzle were coming through. Up to the late sixties it was all disjointed, it was only from about 1972-73 that it all started coming together and we were playing better cricket and more cricket and more talent was coming in from other sources not Royal and S. Thomas�.

�If we were given Test status at the time we would have been a strong force in international cricket no doubt. Calling off the 1968 tour to England may have set us back. There was a lot of intrigue behind the selections and they tried to reselect the team unofficially but the net result was that we decided to call the tour off. The MCC never forgave us for that. I don�t know the ramifications at that time and I don�t think exchange was an issue. We might have swung it then but we had to wait another 14 years to get ICC Test status,� he said.
Right throughout his career Heyn was in the buying and shipping industry firstly with Freudenbergs and then with Browns. After he migrated to England in the mid-seventies he continued the profession working for one of the biggest shipping companies there for over 20 years. His mother was English and he had an automatic right of entry to England. During that time he also played for Richmond CC in the Middlesex and Surrey league. He retired from the company five years ago and is taking life easy travelling most of the time to watch cricket played in Sri Lanka and in Australia.

�My trips to Sri Lanka are centred round the Josephian-Peterite Big Match where I am guaranteed to meet friends of mine and the other trips are geared round Sri Lanka playing,� said Heyn. �The amount of people I have met is amazing. I�ve come more for the socialising. Once they know the name it rings a bell but I have some of my Sri Lankan team-mates not recognising me. By and large so because there was no television exposure like today. Now the guys are all over on billboards and into sponsorships.�

Heyn has an English wife Sue who lives and works in London. They have two girls Alexander the elder one is 28 and Jordina the younger is 26. �I was partly disappointed when I produced two girls because I wanted a son to come and play cricket but as it turned out my younger daughter swam for Great Britain she is a full-time swimmer now. The elder one is more studious she is a chartered accountant.� The Heyn family has a house in Twickenham, a short distance away from the home of England rugby.

�I am pleased cricket here has evolved the way it has over the years. Sri Lanka is now on the map because of cricket. Everyone knows about us. Especially the England supporters they love coming here because they get a good game and they can have a good time,� said Heyn who was in Sri Lanka recently for the West Indies Test series. �We are respected around the world. We can make our demands in cricket which we couldn�t do in the past. Some of the team�s who were looking down at us know we are a feared team, nobody takes us lightly. It is remarkable for West Indies to say that drawing against Sri Lanka is an achievement. In the old days they would have hammered us 3-0. You can see how things have changed and the regard that world cricket has for us.�

�One glaring thing in the game today is that there is no short running between the wickets anymore. Even during the time of Michael Bevan he used to just tap and run, we used to do that. You don�t see that even in the fifty-over matches. You just hit hard at the fielder and don�t run at all when the ball doesn�t penetrate the field. It was a technique and a tactic. Trying to build an innings and steal runs to me was part of the game especially in limited-over cricket. Another innovation we didn�t have is the bowling variations, slow balls and things like that. We never thought too much about that. If we had done that it would have enhanced our game,� he said.

Ranjith the Gentle Giant of National Athletics.

Courtesy: Text and Pictures by Rangi Akbar
National Discus Champion while a schoolboy

Ranjith Weerasena as he is now

Ranjith Weerasena first won the national discus title as a schoolboy at St. Peter’s in 1959 and successfully defended the title for ten consecutive years. During these years St. Peter’s dominated the Tarbat Schools Athletic Championships.These thoughts raced through my mind as I set out to meet former discus champion Ranjith Weerasena after several years at his residence in Colpetty.

I tried to recollect the memories I had of him. Kind to the point of being embarrassing, polite and ever willing to help, Ranjith’s present plight of being partly paralysed was first told to me by M.G.M.S. Zurfick, the former motorcycle champion. Then and there I made it a point to meet him but the meeting took place much, much later.

Ranjith’s second wife Asoka met me at the entrance of their modest flower arrangement parlour. Then it struck me that Ranjith had a penchant for interior decorating and was quite successful at it in the past. Asoka whisked me to meet Ranjith who was lying flat on a bed. With a little bit of effort from his ’Man Friday’ Buddhika, Ranjith sat up. He was pleased to see me after so many years. He is still his burly self and his wife said that he is now 71 years old.

I asked Asoka (nee Samarawickrema) now Weerasena how she had met Ranjith.

“It was at a function. Ranjith had expressed his desire to meet me. He has said that I resembled his first wife Dr. Sumana Weerasena (a dentist) who passed away in the year 2000.”

With a little bit of egging and a lot of help from Asoka, I managed to get Ranjith to speak about his sporting past.

He had been an outstanding discus thrower at St. Peter’s and had later represented Sri Lanka at several Asian Games. He has represented his club Ace Athletic Club as a schoolboy in 1956 in an Asian meet where he had struck Gold.

Ranjith the champion discus thrower in the 60s

His residence has seen many Old Peterite gatherings in the past and they still linger in the memories who had attended them.

He had been the chairman of the Sri Lanka Olympic Committee in 1980-81 after the late sprinter Julian Grero. He has taken part in several Indo-Ceylon meets and the Singapore Championships with great success. He had even given a helping hand to some of Sri Lanka’s outstanding athletes such as S.L.B. Rosa, K.G. Badra and Wimaladasa to ensure their success.

Switching his role he had been a founder member of the Sri Lanka Veteran’s Athletic Association with hurdler Vijitha Wijesekera and Halaldeen, the sprinter from Wattala in 1980.

Ranjith is a Life member of the Veteran’s Athletic Association and he has a Golden Pin to show for his efforts.

Ranjith was also President of the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). He recalls happily how President Mahinda Rajapaksa was a member of the AAA. He says that he had even helped athletes such as Susanthika Jayasinghe and Sriyani Kulawansa to get them off the starting blocks in their respective athletic careers.

Asoka is no stranger to sports. She has played netball for Kegalle MV and hockey at District level for Kegalle in 1976. She took me around their spacious abode and to a special place in the sitting room where pictures, certificates and trophies won by Ranjith were adorned.

I would class Ranjith amongst the best Peterite sportsmen I have met and they include the late Archibald Perera, the Paternott brothers – Rodney and Hamish – the late Darrel Wimalaratne, Richard and David Heyn, Royden De Silva, the late Jeffrey De Jong, Roy Dias and Rumesh Ratnayake.

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Courtesy of Rangi Akbar – The Sunday Times of October 7, 2012)
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Editor's Note: Ranjith Weerasena along with Ranjit Wijeyesekere (In Canada), Errol de Silva (In Canada), Anton Perera (deceased), Winston Tambimuttu, David Van Dort (In Australia), Neville Salvador, brothers Andrew & Godfrey Goonetilleke (deceased), Didacus de Almeida (deceased), Nihal Fonseka (In Canada), N.B. Wilson, Vinitha Rajakaruna, Ranjith Alwis, Rontjen Perera (In California), Kevin Ruberu (In Australia) and many others who were cream of the crop that heralded the strong St. Peter's College Athletics team in the 1950s.

This article certainly brings back fond memories of burly Ranjith Weerasena. He had one brother Dr. Lakshman Weerasena who is a medical practitioner in Colombo.

Priya Perera – the former Josephian, University and All Ceylon all-rounder

BY MERRIL Gunaratne

KNOWN affectionately as Priya, I first made his acquaintance in 1960 at cricket practices in the University. Competition for places in the University team to play in the Saravanamuttu Trophy Tournament then was fierce, given the extent to which talent was prodigious.

HIK Fernando, DH de Silva, Brendon Gooneratne, Thurairajah, late Ranjith Doranegama, Neil Chanmugam, Buddy Reid, Carlyle Perera were only a few of this galaxy. To fill the void left by the departing seniors in 1960, there were freshmen of almost equal repute.

Priya Perera, Nihal Gurusinghe, Mohanlal Fernando, Malsiri Kurukulasooriya, late Anton Rambukpotha, late NJS de Mel, Seneca De Chickera, late Thavaneetharajah are some of the names that come to mind.

Having not played any class of cricket in school days at St. Peter's College, Colombo, I had the rare fortune of securing a regular slot in the University team in 1960 alongside school giants of the class of Priya Perera, the former Josephian and combined schools Captain, Mohanlal Fernando, the Best Allrounder in schools from Ananda, and Nihal Gurusinghe, the batting star from S. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia.

Those were the halcyon days when the University was a dominant force in premier cricket, displaying a penchant to defeat renowned teams of the class of SSC, NCC.

The acme of this golden era was when the University emerged as Sara Trophy Champions in 1963 under the astute captaincy of Carlyle Perera, after knocking at its doors in the previous 3 years.

The university's cricketing excellence continued into the late 60s like an unbroken thread, given the continuous talent which entered it in that decade. Mano Ponniah, Lareef Idroos, Sivananthan, Kingsley Fernando, Harsha Samarajeeva, Cyril Ernest, Nanda Senanayake stamped their imprint on the championship team of 1963.

Yet later arrived Mevan Peiris, Sarath Wimalaratne and Sarath Seneviratne to sustain the quality of excellence University then displayed at Cricket.

Priya Perera had entered the University with a giant reputation in the school days for his exceptionally outstanding exploits in batting, bowling, fielding and astute captaincy.

I had the fortune of moving with him closely in the team, particularly because he made me feel at ease in a star studded team playing premier-cricket, given the handicap I carried of being an "unknown" with no cricket background and laurels whatsoever to boast of.

He constantly offered tips and advice in an unobtrusive, friendly way, a kind of guidance from which I benefited immensely. Priya was therefore both a friend and guide to me. Priya unfortunately departed from this world rather tragically in the early 70's in London, when so young.

In recent times, I had seen numerous articles on past greats in the print media. This served as a stimulus to write about this great all rounder who occupied centre stage in the late 50s and 60s.

Priya's exploits as an All rounder at St. Joseph's, and then the University, were legion. Scoring 66 runs of a modest total of 173, and capturing 3 wickets in his very first outing for the University in 1960, Priya was blooded into the national team to play against Pakistan Eaglets by the selectors who considered him a wise investment. I also recall him playing in the national team against the West Indies in 1961.

It would be difficult to assess in what sphere of the game, batting or bowling, he was more talented and proficient; he was equally skilled at both. His height and long limbs accentuated the grace and artistry he displayed, be it in batting or bowling. He was the epitome of technical perfection. As an off spinner, he belonged to the classical genre, a connoisseur's delight.

He belonged to a vintage when off spinners assiduously practiced virtues associated with this classic art: the high arm, flight, variation, guile, and the ball that does not turn, variously described as the floater or the arm ball.

The quality of Priya's bowling was enriched by a shrewd head, height, long limbs and fingers. The practice of this craft is for the crafty, for deception has necessarily to be in one's armoury to snare wickets on featherbeds. Priya did so with monotonous frequency.

Priya's off spin magic brings to mind nostalgic memories of other quality off spinners of his ilk; the one time Josephian SSC and Police great Neil Weerasinghe, and Abu Fuard, Lalith Kaluperuma, and Neil Chanmugam of all Ceylon repute. It is unfortunate that their classical action has not been captured on celluloid for worthy emulation by today's aspiring off spinners.

As a batsman, Priya was equally adept. I yet recall Priya walking out to bat, a casual, nonchalant glance at the sky to condition himself to the light, before prodding forward and back to technical perfection in order to get his eye in; and then his strokes began to cascade, not through brutish force, but caressingly. Priya's height and long limbs added lustre to his grace, artistry, and dominance over bowlers.

Priya on display held centre stage not only in batting and bowling, but in fielding as well. He was one of the most outstanding close in-fielders of the time, particularly in the gully region.

His long fingers often wrapped around the ball even after it seemingly had eluded and passed him, as happened when he caught out a West Indian batsman in the fixture Ceylon played against the West Indies in 1961.

And now to Priya the man. What impelled me to write about him is not merely to recapture his exceptional and unique career as a cricketer, but more to remember him for the pristine human qualities he was endowed with.

He was modest, gentle, cultured, unassuming and helpful to those in need, virtues of a good head and heart. I cannot forget him for easing me into the environment of top grade cricket, his shrewd cricketing brain then realizing that I required direction.

Those were the days unlike now, when even in a team, one stood in solitude on stage. It is this debt of gratitude in particular that makes me remember Priya as someone special.

The writer represented the University along with the late Priya Perera, in the Sara Trophy Cricket Tournament in the early 60s. He also played for Colts, NCC, Police, the State Services in the Quadrangular tournament and for the Central Province against the MCC XI led by Ted Dexter at Radella in 1962.

Courtesy: Sunday Times
 

The Tri-Nations Rugby Tournament

It has been almost 35 years since Sri Lanka came close to winning the Asiad. At this moment it is only fitting to bring to mind the only complete rugby player produced by Sri Lanka. No one can equal that record to-date. The great coach Archibald Perera moulded him at school but it was his inherent talent that finally prevailed.

Didacus de Almeida, a name synonymous with Rugby. Why was he a complete player? He had a head for the game and the speed of a Cheetah, could collect the ball clean under pressure and kick from any angle, frequently executing beautiful drop goals. His crunching tackles were feared by all players. He was a robust player who always played clean rugby.

What a game that was, the Asiad Final in 1974, when Sri Lanka were runners-up in the final to Japan. There were no IPLs, no dollar gains, only sheer commitment to the game and the love for the country. At the age of 18, right from school, Dida played for Sri Lanka continuously for over decade, which was a record. He was an inspiration to young players – A hero in their eyes!

The class of rugby dished out by Dida was entertaining; he never let the side down. With no quarter neither asked nor given, he sold the dummy on numerous occasions, frequently baffling the opponents and scored many tries for the Mecca of Rugby, his club, CR & FC.
We were in awe watching this player of class.

The London Welsh Team played in Sri Lanka with great rugby legends such as John Dawes, Gareth Davies and the mercurial J.P.R. Williams to name a few. Dida was the only player to score. He received a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 50,000 people. At the after party at the residence of the British High Commissioner that evening, he was the Toast.

Such was the player he was but never lost his head. He was a generous man to poor people. Dida married glamorous Minoli Perera from Milepost Avenue, Colombo 3 – the love of his life. She hails from an illustrious rugby playing family. Her father, Manning, played for CR & FC, his brother, Godwin, was the first Ceylonese to captain Ceylon during the British Era and his sister, the mother of the late C.V. Gunarathne, was rumoured to say that the British never tolerated locals in the clubhouse but that she was the only privy lady clad in a saree to cheer Ceylon, while sitting in the clubhouse, whom they respected.

Dida is blessed with a son and daughter. The son unfortunately could not follow his father’s passion due to the war and was sent to London to pursue his education after playing for his school Royal College. His daughter was an athlete of repute, possessing the same speed and style of her father and was a renowned sportswoman at Ladies College.

I am here from London to watch rugby. My sincere wish is that the Sri Lankan team plays hard, plays clean and does justice to greats like the late Dida.

Good luck boys – keep the flag on high especially when the world is not looking kindly towards Sri Lanka.

“Only Sports can level any Mindset “. Dida you must be watching the Rugby.

Sweet prince may you sleep in peace.

T.de.S

FLASHBACK – INAUGURAL JOSEPHIAN-PETERITE CRICKET ENCOUNTER

FEBRUARY 23 & 24, 1932 PLAYED AT ST. PETER’S COLLEGE GROUNDS, BAMBALAPITIYA

TEAMS

St. Joseph’s College – Robert Fernando (Capt.), Douglas Moreira, K.C. Pathmanathan, Tommy Le Mercier, Claude Wijesinghe, Victor Albert, J.P. Maloney, Peter Peiris, Hugh Swaris, W.L.A. Karunaratne, Simplicus Cruze.

St. Peter’s College – George Jayaweera (Capt.), Kenneth de Silva, Dodwell Pereira, Everard Bartholomeusz, P.S. Anthonisz, George Walles, Jerry Abeysekara, Shirley de S. Illesinghe, Tybat Herath, Cyril Dias, Walfordf Pietersz.

Result: St. Joseph’s College won by an innings and 105 runs.

St. Joseph’s College – 225 All Out – Robert Fernando, 31, Douglas Moreira, 26, K.C. Pathmanathan, 31, Tommy Le Mercier, 32, Peter Peirs, 36, WLA Karunaratne, 19. Bowling: Cyril Dias 19-0-64-9

St. Peter’s College – 1^st Innings 50 All Out – Kenneth de Silva, 17. Bowling: Claude Wijesinghe 8-5-8-4; Peter Peiris 7-3-16-2. And 2^nd Innings 70 All Out – Kenneth de Silva, 15, Dodwell Pereira, 11, P.S. Anthonisz, 11. Bowling: Douglas Moreira 14-5-20-3; Peter Peirs 10-3-17-3; Claude Wijesinghe 13-5-11-2; KC Pathmanathan 12.2-10-4-2.

Man of the Match: Cyril Dias (SPC) 9 wickets for 64 runs

Interesting Trivia

• George Jayaweera who captained SPC is Tissa Jayaweera’s father. Tissa played for SPC in 1961 & 1962;
• Tommy Le Mercier who played for SJC is Tyrone Le Mercier’s father. Tyrone captained SPC in 1963;

Courtesy: Sharm De Alwis – Sunday Leader

The most awesome performance by any of our teams against a visiting team was in 1966.

The President’s XV played the British Joint Services (Far East) at Longden Place and went down heroically by only 3 – 6 , which, when compared with other games played by the country’s teams, was certainly  a pyrrhic victory by the visitors who got as much as they gave in total rugby warfare.

Sari de Sylva and his band of doughty fighters made us proud when they showed us what roaring spirit was. They took on a team that was considered superior to ours in every department of the game. Our team was out-weighed, out-sped and roughed up. But we wouldn’t be out-classed. We played a heroic game never seen within memory before or hence and were like a pack of terriers amongst the stallions, and the terriers prevailed.

We went to applaud quintessence of rugger at the expense of our own team but the tide of emotion was turned around in splendid manner and we were gripped with feeling, cheering and surging with our own team as they surged to Olympian heights of glory.

Every one of us would gladly have forgone seasons of rugby just to witness those magnificent moments right through to the final whistle.

The Joint Services were given the roughest time this side of Vietnam. So much so, they forgot it was a game and thought it battle. And, like in war, they did not pull any punches.

There was Mike de Alwis, battered in the scrums, wiping the blood from his face, spitting out a tooth or two and out-hooking them against weighty odds. Referee Bartholomeusz was never called upon to keep a sterner, disciplined eye on the course of a game.

And Sari gave an object lesson on how to tackle, when to tackle. In the process, he was subjected to hard hand-offs which made him shake like a terrier, but he still downed his man. That was embodiment not only of rugger but also guts and glory.

There was Tony Sirimanne, playing the game of his lifetime. At the base of the scrum or in the loose he was terrier breed. Once he punched his full frame against 200 pounds of hulk and nearly dislodged his adversary’s knee-cap.

Didacus de Almeida was the Jack of Spades, always cutting, thrusting, piercing. He must have been immortal to have scored that try. He was a solitary jack shuffling through the pack to come up trumps.

Rodriguesz played valiantly but was out of luck in the hour of need. Henricus, Rutnam, Rankine and Thiruchittampalam used their heads for tactical play and left Omar, Roles, Abeysundera and Hiranjan to harry, hustle and make them rush or drop their passes.

Noel Brohier exposed Jones and made him play like a smith. Only Flamer-Caldera was erratic.

All in all, the game of a lifetime was on and the visitors were made to look inanimate. The programme did give their names as such — Wood, Acorns, Picket and Frame. They were not wrongly christened.

The statistician might be content to record you lost 3 – 6. But we consider you won a moral victory.

The full contingent of the President’s XV: Maxim Flamer-Caldera, Basil Henricus, Didacus de Almeida, Tony Rankine, G. Thiruchittampalam, Jeff Rutnam, Tony Sirimanne, Hadji Omar, Mike de Alwis, Jeyer Rodriguesz, R. Abeysundera, Eric Roles, Sari de Sylva, Hiranjan Perera, Gama Fernando.

In the light of such valour and gallantry it is not fitting to mention other games in which some players looked as though they couldn’t crack their knuckles without another’s help but the record has to be set straight even if it is not about roses but that which would bring a blush to fair cheeks.

It would be a litany to mention the names of all players but those flamboyant threads that were in the tapestry with regularity through the years were of Summa Navaratnam, Basil and brother Alan Henricus, Claire Roeloffsz, Kavan Rambukwella, Lecho and brother Conrad Ephraiums, Ago Paiva, Mahes Rodrigo, Alan Drieberg, Geoff Weinman, Ashy Cader, Malcolm Wright, D.L.Y. Pakstun, Maurice Perera, Maurice de Silva, Brute Mahendran, Larry Schokman, Stanley Unamboowe, Michael de Alwis, Mike Schokman, Dharmasiri Madugalle, Lionel Almeida,  Franklin Jacob, Gogi Tilekaratne, Y. Chang Fa, Keith Paul, Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Selva Canagasabai, Lorensz Pereira, Indrajith Coomarasamy, Hubert Aloysius, Nimal Maralanda, M.U. Odayar, Noel Brohier, Ralph Gauder, Raji and brother Sari de Sylva,  Tony Sirimanne, Jeff and brother Dan Rutnam, Abdul Majeed, Mohan Sahayam, Glen Vanlangenberg, Gama Fernando, Jupana Jaywardena, Didacus de Almeida, Y.C. Chang, Hadji Omar and that Prince of scrum-halves, S.B. Pilapitiya.

Those names themselves form a sacrament calling for divine rites.

There were, of course, other games in which All-Ceylon, The Barbarians (2nd XV), the Services, Up-Country and Low-Country teams engaged the visitors in brutal battle and the first I watched was in 1950 when the All-Ceylon team comprising ex-pats except for  Claire Roeloffsz, Summa Navaratnam and  Letcho Ephraiums lost 6-44 to The British Isles. I couldn’t remember how much I paid to watch and so I asked Summa. He said he didn’t have to pay to play.

Philip Buultjens had been a Reserve in the 1930 All-Ceylon team against the British RFU XV which the visitors won 45 – NIL.

1932 – Others who played representative rugger were Edward Aluvihare, N.W.Weerasinghe, Noel Gratiaen,  Gratiaen was the only non expat in the All-Ceylon team which beat Madras 25-8 at the Race Course.

1938 – Western Australia RFU team beat at the Race Course 16 – 6 The Ceylonese  which comprised Ray de Zylva, Percy de Silva, Archibald Perera, Percy de Zilva, G. and Fred Kellar, A.H.A.Samad, Claire Roeloffsz, B & C. Ohlums, A.P. Koelmeyer, E. D. W. Jayawardene, D.L. Pate, Dr. Willie Ratnavale and Duncan Reith. It was a virtual CR & FC team except for Duncan Reith of the Kandy Rovers. Sammy David, also of CR was listed to play but did not as he was carrying an injury and  advised to rest.

The visitors beat Low-Country 11-9 and Up-Country 24-3. Claire Roellofsz was loaned to Up-Country by Havelocks! All-Ceylon won against WA 12 – 3 at the Race Course.
1939 – The Wallabies match against All-Ceylon was cancelled as the ship arrived late. All the non ex-pat players, including the reserves were from the CR&FC.

1950 – Mention has already been made of the British Isles – All Ceylon match. The decade gave good fare to rugby enthusiasts.

1953 – Australian Colts beat Colombo 35 – 11 at the Race Course and All-Ceylon 39-NIL at Darawella and Up-Country 32-3  at Bogambara, beat the Barbarians 30 – 3  and All-Ceylon 11-3.

1955 NZ RFU Colts brought a fresh approach to the game when the back Division formed a phalanx and proceeded as one. It was not a three-quarters’ rolling maul like that exercised in the 1st Leg of the Bradby by Prasanna Jayawardena, Suren Hulangamuwa, Dilan Denzil and Zameel Mohamed under the direction of that foxy coach, Quentin Israel.

In their opening game, the Colts beat Colombo Clubs 35 – 5 at the Race Course and went on to Bogambara to beat Up-Country 24-3. In their 35 – NIL match against All-Ceylon at Radella the Colts inner-three cut through the defence line as though of ribbon and was brought down by Malcolm Wright, the lone wolf in the last line of defence. They went storming on in their wins against the Barbarians, 33-NIL at the Race Course before calling it a day and going home undefeated.

1957 brought the Australian Colts for their second spell of wins by beating Low-Country 14-9 at Longden Place, Up-Country 43  – NIL at Nittawela and All-Ceylon 21-NIL at Radella, the Barbarians 22-NIL and All-Ceylon 37 – 3 at the Race Course.

1959 had the combined might of Oxford and Cambridge pitting their wares against our lads and Hurst was the only non-Blue in the team. The Colombo Clubs with a virtual All-Ceylon team lost NIL – 41 even though they had a heady team with Lionel Almeida, Rajah Sumanasekera, Ago Paiva, Tyrell Muttiah, Sandy Gomez, Alan Drieberg, Hubert Aloysius, Ranjit Sri Nissanka, Franklin Jacob, Ashy Cader and Conrad Ephraiums.

Their next game was at Longden Place where they won 37 – 3 against All-Ceylon, not as good as the win against the Colombo Clubs. Then at Badulla against Up-Country they came in to their own with a resounding win of 52 – NIL, Darawella – 55-NIL against the Barbarians and 45 – NIL Vs All-Ceylon.

1964 saw the British Joint Services (Far East) beat Ceylon Services 16 – 5 at Galle Face; 14 – 6 against President’s XV.

1966 – The British Joint Services (Far East) emboldened by their success in 1964 came again and trounced Ceylon Services 39 – NIL; President’s XV which was covered earlier in this article when Sari de Sylva’s thunderbolts gave as much as they got.

1968 – British Joint Services beat All-Ceylon in a narrow 14-12 game.
A Combined All-India team lost to All-Ceylon 18-19.

1969. Bosuns, comprising a strong team of players from the best rugby clubs in England beat All-Ceylon: 56-3 at Havelock Park; Up-Country: 56-3 at Radella; President’s XV 48-5; All-Ceylon : 34 – 8. For the first time our own countrymen came in to the team in full force other than John Burrows whose inclusion was a regular feature; beat Ceylon Services : 26 – NIL at Longden Place;

British Joint Services team from Singapore made their fourth visit and beat Ceylon Services 19-8 at Galle Face.

A notable feature was that even though an All-Ceylon team lost 9-11 to an Indian team in Calcutta the Ceylon Services team was able to win 20-3 against the same Indian team.
1970 — Blackheath Football Club bulldozed their win against Ceylon Services : 47-13 at Havelock Park and 44-16 against Colombo Clubs at Havelock Park; 42-3 Vs Up-Country at Darawella; 36-8 and 33-15 against the President’s XV the foreign teams always proved superior.

The Indian Rugby Football team won a close 9-8 encounter against Up-Country at Radella and All-Ceylon won for the first time against a visiting foreign team when scored 19-5 the visitors. The Ceylon Services followed up to inflict a 19-5 win against the visitors.

The All-Singapore team beat All-Ceylon 11-6 at Longden Place and 16-9 in the return game.

Paris Universities beat President’s XV 21-9 at Havelock Park and 38-3, the President’s Colts at Longden Place. The CRFU XV won against the visitors 11-8 at Longden Place.
1971 also had the England Far East team providing our rugby enthusiasts with good fare in two games, both of which they won 40-11 and 34-6.

The Nchanga Rugby Club lost to President’s XV 11-18.

1972 – Paris Universities 2nd tour. Won 70-6 Vs Ceylon Services; at Galle Face; 60-NIL Vs Up-Country and 51-4 Vs President’s XV .

London Welsh 70, CRFU 3 at Galle Face; 104 Vs Defence Services 3; 96 – 3 at Galle Face Vs Colombo Clubs; 108-4 Vs Up-Country; 106-4 Vs President’s XV at Nittawela and 66-3 Vs President’s XV at Longden Place.

Bancroft RF Club 18-12 Vs Rugby Football Club of Ceylon
Australian Emus 34-15 Vs Colombo Clubs at Havelock Park
36-9 Vs Defence Services at Badulla
43 – 4 Vs President’s XV at Nittawela
48-3 Vs CR&FC
52-9 Vs CRFU at Longden Place

RAF Gan Island tour organised by SL Air Force and the SL Army played two matches. Results and teams not readily available.

1973 – Athletic Club Boulogne Billancout 84 Vs Up-Country 4 at Radella; 24-15 Vs Defence Services  at Galle Face; 27-6 Vs Colombo Clubs at Longden Place
Nomads (English Schools) 82 beat President’s Under 20 – 2nd XV at Maitland Place;
20-16 Vs President’s Under 20 2nd XV; 32-7 Vs Defence Services at Badulla; 52-NIL Vs Dimbulla 2nd XV which had a fair complement of first grade players in Keith Paul, Jayantha Jayawardene, Ken Murray, Lionel Almeida and Mike de Alwis; 21-4 Vs Outstation U20 at Nittawela; 28-NIL Vs SLRFU Colts at Longden Place; 24-10 Vs President’s XV at Longden Place.

1974 – Japan RFU  88 Vs Sri Lanka 3 at Havelock Park.

1975  – Hastings Bexhill RF Club played seven matches and lost all their games against Havelocks, Combined UVA, Army/Navy XV, Kandy Sports, CH&FC, President’s XV and CR&FC.

One redeeming feature that surfaces is that today’s contingent is far superior if scores against visitors  are taken in to account even though the players of bygone years were more committed to the game and yet have grandeur attached to them. And, of course, there were in the most recent past two players in Michael Jayasekera and Hisham Abdeen who bear no comparison with the hoary past or the present.