Cricket is a reflective game; a game which above all things lends itself to writing in the lovely flexible English which we have inherited from our ancestors; conquerors and the colonial rulers. Considering values and the traditions this game has inherited; it is deservingly denoted as the “GAME OF GENTLEMEN”.

It is once again the Big Match time. The heat, passion, frills and the thrills are being experienced and every body would love to reserve their prestigious seat in order to whisper their halcyon days and cheer the twenty two warriors who are battling for supremacy. It May be Royal-Thomian (Battle of the Blues) or the Joe -Pete (Battle of the Saints); The two most prestigious traditional encounters in the Island (This is no disparagement to any other Big Match); the Old boys, well wishers of all walks of life from here and abroad determined to be at picturesque Sinhalese Sports Club grounds or P. Saravanamuttu Stadium with a sense of tremendous enthusiasm where the friendly rivalry being engaged and at the very same time the game will be played to the best of it's traditions.

St. Joseph's College team – 1944 (First row from left) M. Dalpethado, A. de Costa, M. Kodikara (Seated from left) A. Hazari, I Matthysz, M. de Costa (captain), Rev. Fr. Peter A. Pillai (Rector), S. Fernando (Coach), C. de Mel, E. Chanmugam (Standing from left) H. Bagot, D. Fonseka, J de Mel, Brian de Silva, N. Weerasinghe, N. Pereira, A. Kanaganayagam, T. Wickramasinghe.

As I turn page by page of the Golden Jubillee souvenir of Joe-Pete battle of the Saints Cricket Encounter; what really struck my mind was the matches played in 1944 and in the subsequent year 1945 where the editor; late Harold De Andrado; commonly known to Josephians as the password of Josephian Cricket has given much prominence to the leadership qualities of Malcolm De Costa who led the Darley Road lads in recording back to back victories against the Bambalapitiya School in such a glorious fashion.

In 1944; The Battle of the saints encounter has taken place after a lapse of two years since the match had been interrupted in 1942 and 1943 due to the world war II. In these two years the Josephians were under that dynamic allrounder Fairlie Dalpethado has fielded two invincible teams and in year 1943 they were undisputed inter-schools cricket champions.

The big match played in 1944; had been the 10th encounter of the series and the Peterites were led by Anton Perera (Elder brother of famous cricket commentator Maurice Perera). The venue for this match was the University grounds, Thurstan Road, and played on March 15 and 16, 1944. St Peter's after winning the toss and have batted first were bowled out for 115. St Joseph's in their essay had compiled a massive 288. Skipper Malcolm De Costa had led from the front by scoring a brilliant century. The most successful bowler for the Petes had been Dion Walles who had taken 6 for 105. In the second essay, Petes were folded up for a mere 118 thus conceding a huge an innings and 55 run victory for their counterparts. Only the Pete's captain Anton Perera had shown some resistance by scoring a stubborn 75. The chief wreckers were Joe De Mel (Match bag of 6 for 49) and Malcolm De Costa himself chipped in with 3 for 24.

By Supun Perera – Courtesy: Daily News

The following year too, Malcolm De Costa was bestowed upon the captaincy and Petes too were under Anton Perera. The match was played on 17th and 18th of March 1945 and the venue had been Victoria Park SSC grounds. After winning the toss St Joseph's have batted first and had posted a formidable 240. Opener Timmothy Wickremasinghe (58) and Wicket keeper/Batsman Hubert Bagot (64) had reached half centuries. Peterites in their essay were bundled out for just 165 where only E.L. De Souza (83) and Maurice Perera (50) had scored pugnacious half centuries. St Joseph's; batting second have declared at 176 for the loss of six wickets where the show piece of the innings had been the elegant batamanship of Asgar Hazari; who had been dismissed for 92 and was unfortunate to miss a well deserved century. Peterites were chasing a target of 251 for victory; could muster only 102 runs and Joes were the worthy winners by humiliating Petes by a huge 149 runs. Norton Pereira was the most successful bowler for St Joseph's by having a match bag of 7 for 56 and Skipper himself Malcolm De Costa had a match haul of 5 for 41.

St. Joseph's College team – 1945 (First row from left) O Perera, S Sarathchandra, M kodikara (Seated from left) C de Mel, m de Costa (captain), Fr. j. Nanayakkara O.M.I (Prefect of Games), Rev. Fr. Peter A. Pillai (Rector), S. Fernando (Coach), F. Matthysz, A. Hazari (Standing from left) N Perera, J de Mel, H Bagot, J Bagot, V Sinnetamby, T Wickramasinghe.

Andrado in his own inimitable version hails the brilliant captaincy of Malcolm De Costa. “Malcolm played to win but he played chivalrously; and was later honoured in leading the Ceylon School's against the Indian test team led by great Vijay Merchant. The Value of this level headed and genially ruthless commander could not be over estimated”.Both 1944 and 1945 St Joseph's were crowned as the “Kings” of School cricket. Being the Volunteer forces Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy; Capt. Malcolm De Costa had the extremely colourful personality of a great sportsman, Officer and a gentleman par excellence. Of course he had been goal oriented, commanded the troops with a mission to achieve success.

His coaching stint at St Joseph's from 1960 to 1966 too was a Giant leap forward where he produced cricketers in the calibre of Priya Perera, Raja De Silva (Schoolboy cricketer of the year in 1961), Rufus Buultejens, Polycarp Wijesekera, Hilary Marcelline and Brian Perumal to a name few. Acccording to some of these players those who have come under the watchful eyes of Malcolm De Costa expresses that the method he had used to mould a bunch of schoolboys and make them a match winning outfit. His witty and professional attitude could only be expected from a person of his stature.

The successive victories of the Joe-Pete encounters in 1944 and 1945 were overwhelming evidence of dynamic leadership qualities,will to achieve victory, unwavering the courage and character of the man himself. Importantly these two traditional encounters epitomizes the respect, command, image and the reputation he earned from his fellow team mates and the admiration from his college authorities and those who were in the opposition. The manner in which he had led the teams in these two years symbolizes his character, personality and the professionalism. It is a pity that we do not see such great men with sterling track record like Capt. Malcolm De Costa (St Joseph's) or Col.F.C.De Saram (Royal). Indeed; they were celebrities of this noble game and equally in the public service alike when men of character led by sheer example, determination and with true professionalism!

The Peterite XI of 1961 had many stars. The team was led by Adiel Anghie (Retired Pulmonologist USA), who had the enviable honour of captaining both the college cricket team as well as the rugby team. Let's put some names to the players on this picture. Within brackets is where they live, as far we are aware presently. David Heyn went on to play for Ceylon/Sri Lanka from 1966 to 1976 and captained his school in 1964. Others who captained SPC are Richard Heyn (1962), Tyrone Le Mercier (1963) and Travis Fernando (1965). Sadly, we have lost Maurice Deckker, Sam Rajah, Didacus de Almeida and Richard Alles, who have gone beyond.

Standing – L to R: Tissa Jayaweera (Australia), David Heyn (UK), Travis Fernando (SL), Rohan Abeysundera, Sam Rajah (deceased), Adithiya de Silva, Maurice Deckker (deceased) Seated – L to R: Tyrone Le Mercier (Australia), Richard Alles (deceased), Adiel Anghie (USA), Richard Heyn (USA) and Didacus de Almeida (deceased).

1961 Joe-Pete Encounter – was played at St. Peter's College Grounds on March 17th/18th. SPC – 230/9 wkts decl. SJC – 109 and 140/8 wkts – Match Drawn.

Peterite skipper Adiel Anghie won the toss and went into bat against Josephian openers Brian Perumal and L. Rasanayagam. Adiel Anghie (101) wrote himself into record books by scoring a magnificent century to help the Peterite score 230 runs for 9 wkts declared. Richard Alles, 39 – Didacus de Almeida 24 n.o. added to the score. Lalith Rasanayagam – 3/29 and Raja de Silva 3/61 shared the bowling honours.

The Josephians led by Raja de Silva were shot out for 109 runs with Travis Fernando – 3/26 and Tyrone Le Mercier 2/28 bowling best for the Peterites. Put into bat for a second time, the Josephians fared slightly better and managed to stave off a certain defeat by scoring 140 for the loss of 8 wickets at close. Didacus de Almeida with his leg spinners took 4 for 51.

This picture was taken in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2004, at the 70th Josephian-Peterite match played at the Oval. Four great Peterite cricketers – three of whom live abroad enjoy the day's play reminiscing the grand ole days when they themselves held sway and walked on the same grounds playing for their Alma Mater in what is popularly known as, the "Battle of the Saints".

On extreme left is Richard (Dickie) Alles who played for St. Peter's College in 1959, 1960 and 1961. Behind him is Gary von Bergheim, an old Peterite living now in Australia. To his right is David Heyn, who captained SPC in 1964 and to his right is Travis Fernando, another Peterite captain in 1965. On the extreme right in a red checked shirt is none other than Anton Perera – rated the fastest schoolboy bowler who donned the college blazer from 1957-1960 (both years inclusive).

"We are indebted to the sender of this memorable picture that is worth a million words. However, to put things into perspective, please see brief notes on each of the subjects in the image," says Upali Obeyesekere – President, JPAA Canada.

DAVID HEYN – 2nd son of General B.R. Heyn (former Army Commander) and wife Edna – captained St. Peter's College in 1964 while his older brother Richard captained SPC in 1962. Peter David Heyn is a former Ceylon/Sri Lankan cricketer who played 18 unofficial tests from 1966 to 1976, and two ODIs in the World Cup 1975. David is widely regarded as one of the best cover point fielders ever to represent Sri Lanka. David began his cricket career at St Peter's College in Colombo, where he represented the school from 1961 to 1964, captaining in 1964. He also represented Colombo Schools against the Indian Schoolboys in that same year.

He represented the Burgher Recreation Club whilst in school, and played there until the 1969/70 season. He then played for the Nondescripts Cricket Club from 1970/71 until 1975/76, captaining in the 1974/75 season.

His first-class debut was in 1964, playing 50 matches in total and compiling four hundreds (the highest being 136 against Indian Universities at Bangalore in December 1975). Note – at the time only Ceylon/Sri Lanka matches against foreign sides were classified as first-class.

As Sri Lanka were unlikely to attain full test status at the time, Heyn emigrated to England in 1976. Here he played for Richmond Cricket Club in the Middlesex County Cricket League until 1983, captaining in 1979 and 1980. In 1979 he set a batting record with 5 hundreds in the league season.

In 1981 he played 4 games for Berkshire in the Minor Counties Championship – unfortunately, further appearances were not possible due to work & family commitments.

In 1984 he retired completely from the game at the age of 39, having played a season for Lensbury Cricket club.

David lives in London, England but visits Sri Lanka on and oft. He plans on visiting his home country next month and will be an interested spectator at the 80th Joe-Pete Cricket Encounter at the Oval.

TRAVIS FERNANDO played for St. Peter's from 1961 – 1965. He captained in 1965, and led the Peterites to a six wicket victory in 1965, after a lapse of 10 years. Lawrence Heyn (David & Richard's cousin who lives "down under") has this to say about 1965. "Cricket, to me, took on a magical quality in 1965. It was the last time the big match was played at Bambalapitiya and skipper Travis Fernando signed off in style. The left-armer mesmerised the Joes with his spin and then opener Darrel Wimalaratne led a dashing chase of a victory target of 94 runs in 50 minutes. The first ball Wimalaratne faced was hooked for six, with the ball landing in the pavilion’s upper level among the feet of the dignitaries." Travis lives in Colombo and heads a large tea exporting company. He contributes much of his spare time to his Alma Mater and keeps in touch with the overseas branches as well.

ANTON PERERA passed away just last week on February 20, 2014, in Los Angeles from complications arising of a medical condition. He was 72 at the time of his death. Please see other posts on this website for tributes to Anton and details of his memorial service that is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 1, 2014, in Southern California.

RICHARD ALLES – Richard (Dickie) Alles passed away in November 2008, in Australia. Richard was a straight bat and played for his school in 1959, 1960 and 1961. His opening partner in 1959 was Mark de Silva and the pair gave the Peterites a good start making 61 for the 1st wicket. Richard scored 38. In 1960, he scored 31 going in at No.3 and in 1961 he opened with Sam Rajah and made 39.

Richard Alles passes away

Elmo Rodrigopulle – former Benedictine cricketer has this to say in a Daily News article of November 28, 2008.

Richard (Dickie) Alles, the former Peterite cricketer passed away peacefully in Victoria, Australia on Wednesday.

"Dickie" as he was popularly known, played in the sixties for his school and shone as a steady opening batsman. He was also a competent wicket keeper.

He was not a flashy opener in the Gordon Greenidge or Cammie Smith mould, but was very correct always offering a straight bat and many were the good scores he made for his team. He was a stubborn batsman and would not throw away his wicket.

During his school career he played in the company of Desmond Dharmaraja, Anton Perera, Adiel Anghie, Brian Seneviratne, Randolph Layman, Tyronne Le Mercier, Richard Heyn, Didacus de Almedia, Aditha de Silva and Sam Rajah whose names come to mind.

On leaving school he sported Colts CC colours and played in many a match winning team. He had many good score during his tenure with the club.

Brian de Silva an excellent opening bat and stumper from the Bambalapitiya school in the fifties and who was a team mate of Dickie at the Colts described him thus: 'He was a steady opening batsman, more of a back foot player and more than forcing the ball, he would caress it to the open spots on the field to gather his runs.

'Above all he was an excellent team man and was a fine raconteur and he would have his team mates laughing their sides out with his rib-tickling stories, said Brian who himself was a scream at the Colts and of whom Nomis the curator of that time when de Silva was behind the stumps for SPC would relate stories that defies print. We were opponents, Dickie for SPC me for SBC and the friendship we formed while playing for our respective schools continued at the Colts and the Mercantile CA until he bid adieu and left for Australia seeking pastures new.

I met him on one of my tours to Australia while covering the Sri Lanka cricket team's tour and did we not recall those old times and reminisce.

May the turf that Richard walked so honourably lie softly on him. (E.R.)

Courtesy: Ranjan Anandappa – Sunday Observer of February 26, 2012.

Two 'big' match wins within the space of three years in the Josephian-Peterite series, is certainly heartening for the cricketers who play their 78th encounter at the P. Sara Oval on March 2 and 3 and the hope of bright cricket will certainly bring in the crowds at this battle of the saints. The new playing conditions which ware introduced in year 2000 has made the contest much more interesting and a result-oriented one. Both schools have stuck to that system this year too. Only the first innings of both sides have been limited to 60 overs without any other restrictions of bowlers or fielders. The second innings is played as usual without any barriers.

St.Joseph's last won in 2008 under Ruwantha Fernandopulle and two years later in 2010 St. Peter's came back strongly to beat their traditional rivals under all-rounder Chathura Peiris to make the tally 12 wins by the Joes to 8 by the Peterites in the 77-year old history of the 'big match' series.

The Peterites will heavily depend on their top-order batting spearheaded by their skipper and opener Shehan Fernando who has topped the 1,000 run mark for the season. He has two centuries and seven 50's against his name. Skipper Shehan is partnered by the other Fernando Shaseen these two have done the bulk of the scoring for the Peterites. Besides Shehan reaching the 1000-run mark, Shaseen has topped the 800-run mark with a century and six fifties. These two will be followed by wicket-keeper Lahiru Milantha who also has over 800-runs against his name with three hundreds and should form the nucleus of the Peterite side. In bowling,

Peterite left-arm leg-spinner Julien de Silva who has captured over 70 wickets, opening bowler Ranitha Liyanaarachchi (35 wickets) and spinner Dushan Hemantha are their promising bowlers. Middle-order batting suspect The Peterites are concerned about their middle order batting which has not lived up to expectations. The Peterites have to rely heavily on their top order which has done a exceptionally good job. They fervently hope that the middle order will prosper in this 'big' encounter so that they could build on the early batting successes.

The Petes have played 16 matches and have defeated Wesley, Dharmapala and St. Aloysius outright and they have lost to Prince of Wales. With the medium placemen of either side not making much of an impact this season, it will be left to the spinners to play the prominent role in this encounter.

The Josephians with their balanced outfit in both departments of the game has remained unbeaten this season. The Joes skipper wicket-keeper and opening batsman Vidusha Fernando has led his side well this season, scoring over 550 runs with a century against St. Sebastian's, Moratuwa. He will be partnered by Dylon Fernandopulle and followed by number three Sadeera Samarawickrema who has been the top scorer, getting over 700 runs inclusive of a century.

The Joes middle order seems to be more stable with Sachin Hewawasam and the bowlers Asiri Supekshala, Priyamal Perera, Yashan Samarasinghe and Fabian Fernando all capable of chipping in when required to pile on the runs.

Clive Inman top score of 204 The highest individual score still stands for 58 years where Clive Inman, an old Peterite, Leicestershire and former Ceylon player struck an unbeaten 204 in 1954. Another Peterite and Test player Malinda Warnapura scored 159 in the 1998 encounter. For the Joes, Hareen Perera became the highest individual scorer with an unbeaten 141 in 2009 while the present Sri Lanka ODI player Dimuth Karunaratne struck 131 in 2007. Joe's Shenal Warnakula 9 for 41 The bowling record in the series is held by Josephian Shenal Warnakula ( 9 for 41) in 1997. Peterite Dion Walles too had captured 9 for 53 in 1947 and prior to that another Peterite Cyril Dias had the figures of 9 for 64) in 1933.

Teams: ST.JOSEPH'S COLLEGE: (from) Vidusha Jayasinghe (Captain), Dylon Fernandopulle, Sadeera Samarawickrema, Sachin Hewawasam, Asiri Supekshala, Priyamal Perera, Yashan Samarasinghe, Fabian Fernando, Shivane Allirajah, Dishan Dissanayake, Pathum Wickremasinghe and Dinal Fonseka.

ST.PETER'S COLLEGE: (from) Shehan Fernando (Captain), Shaseen Fernando, Lahiru Milantha (WK), Janitha Liyanage, Kavinda Tissera, Dushan Hemantha, Julien de Silva, Ranitha Liyanaarachie , Ali Khan, Udaka Galhena, Thanusha Jayawardena, Jason Buultjens, Dinith Hewathanthri.

ST.JOSEPH’S: seated (from left) Prashantha Ranaweera (Master-in-Charge), Dilshan Fonseka (Physical Trainer), Vidusha Jayasinghe (Captain), Rev.Fr. Sylvester Ranasinghe (Rector), Rev.Fr.Samith Rangana (P.O.G), Supekshala Jayatileka, (Vice- Captain), Susilough de S. Wijeratne (Cricket Manager) and Dilan Ramanayake(Coach). Standing 2nd Row (From left):. Sachin Hewawasam, Dylan Fernandopulle, Shivane Allirajah, Angelo Rodrigues, Sadheera Samarawickrema, Rajindu Rodrigo, Pathum Madusanka, Priyamal Perera and Yashan Samarasinghe.3rd row: (From left). Fabian Fernando, Suren de Silva, Dinal Fonseka, Arvindh Fernando, Shehan Perera, Nishitha Perera, Dishan Dissanayake and Damith Weerasinghe.

ST.PETER’S seated (from left): Piyal Salgado (Assistant coach), Kitto Fernandopulle (Asst. Coach), Kirthie Gunarathne (Head coach), Rev. Fr.Lakmin Prasanga Silva (Sports Coordinator), Shehan Fernando (Captain), Rev.Fr.Travis Gabriel (Rector), Dushan Hemantha (V.Captain), Wasantha Haputhanthri (Master-in-Charge), Sanath Chinthaka (Asst.Master-in-Charge), Shanaka Prasad Fernando (Fielding Coach), Mahesh de Silva (Manager) Standing (from left – 1st row): Shaseen Fernando, Kavinda de Tissera, Lahiru Milantha, Ali Khan, Ranitha Liyanarachchi, Jason Buultjens, Thanusha Jayawardena, Udaka Galhena and Julien de Zilva.Standing (from left: 2nd row): Chenura Obeysekera, Gayan de Silva, Dineth Hewathanthri, Chaturanga Rajapaksha, Janith Liyanage and Chemila Obeysekera.

Among the Colombo Schools, the Bens and Peterites always had strong Basketball teams in the 50s and 60s.

We have just come across an archived photograph of the 1957 Basketball team of St. Peter's College that featured prominently in the school season in this popular sport at the time. The photo has special significance to JPAA Canada since three of the star players are Canadians of Sri Lankan origin and have lived here for more four decades. Daya Chandraratne, Errol de Silva and Ranjit Wijeyesekere are the players in question who made Canada their home since the sixties. Daya is a Professional Engineer, Errol worled for RBC Royal Bank of Canada and Ranjit gained employment with the Ontario Ministry of Correctional Services. While in Sri Lanka Daya worled at State Engineering Corporation while Errol and Ranit were with Air Ceylon. Ranjit later had a stint with TWA before immigrating to Canada.

The group photograph brings back memories of two staff members who did yeoman service to St. Peter's College in the 50s and 60s. Jack Van Twest and Terry Louis. It must also be said that Rev. Fr. Arthur Fernando became Rector, SPC in 1956 and encouraged all forms of sport at college – Cricket, Athletics, Basketball, Rugby, Hockey and Boxing.

Standing Top Row L to R: R. Ratnasingham, Ranjit Wijeyesekere (Athletics & Rugby) and Gordon Koch (Tennis)

Standing Second Row L to R: C. Ratnasingham, Sam Rajah (Cricket), Hilmy Bhari, Daya Chandraratne, Maurice Silva, Sri Wigneswarajah and Linus Jayawardena (Athletics).

Seated L to R: Jack Van Twest (Coach), E.. Fernando (Capt.), Rev. Fr. Arthur Fernando (Rector), Errol de Silva (Athletics) and Terry Louis (Physical Training Instructor)

Talking of Basketball, names like Royden de Silva (Sri Lanka Double International – Rugby & Basketball),  and Sam Chandrasena (Sri Lanka Double International Badminton & Basketball) come to mind. Peterites have also produced national players such as Ismail Mahroof (Captain, Ceylon Team – U-18), Nowfel Mahroof, Kumar Bastiampillai, Rohan Rodrigo, Nemantha Hatharasinghe, Faizal Mohamed, Shohan Wimalaratne, Sujith Croospulle, Clifford Greig, Milroy Perera and Mario Motha who have all represented our country in this sport.

St. Peter’s College has a proud sporting heritage, with cricket and rugby holding sway in the near nine decades of its existence. The college can parade an impressive line-up of old Peterites who have gone on to cover themselves in glory at national and international level.

Cricket, by virtue of its annual big match, has been the biggest drawcard and some memorable performances have gone into the pages of our history. So, which decade has produced the best cricket teams? I believe the best have been the 1950s and ‘60s, with the latter gaining a slight edge because of the surge in the game’s popularity in the country.

My first introduction to cricket at St Peter’s was as a nine-year-old in 1961, when I watched Adiel Anghie fluently stroke his way to a century in the big match against St Joseph’s at Bambalapitiya. Anghie was all elegance and his 101 was spiced with some wonderful cover drives.

My interest peaked when my two cousins Richard and David skippered teams in the early ‘60s and there were some big hitters in the teams. I remember Richard playing a straight lofted drive for six, with the ball being fished out of the canal by our groundsman.

Cricket, to me, took on a magical quality in 1965. It was the last time the big match was played at Bambalapitiya and skipper Travis Fernando signed off in style. The left-armer mesmerised the Joes with his spin and then opener Darrel Wimalaratne led a dashing chase of a victory target of 94 runs in 50 minutes. The first ball Wimalaratne faced was hooked for six, with the ball landing in the pavilion’s upper level among the feet of the dignitaries.

As I moved into the First XI late in the decade, I was privileged to see the development of the most technically proficient batsman Sri Lanka has produced. Roy Dias was a master of timing and his fluency on the offside was a treat to watch. Dias went on to be a part of the national team that set the platform for the great things that followed. One of the most endearing sights for me are the three consecutive fours he struck off Ian Botham – all perfectly timed cover drives – to reach his half century in the inaugural Test against England in 1982. Dias’s innings of 77 can be viewed on YouTube. After seeing so much of the cricket in the ‘60s, I found it an interesting exercise to pick the team of the decade. It is also interesting to note that a high proportion of ‘60s players would be included in an all-time great Peterite side.

Two players from the ‘50s who would walk into the side are Clive Inman, who hit an unbeaten 204 in 1954, and H I K Fernando, who in later years was widely regarded as the best wicket-keeper in Asia. Then adding venom to the team is that magnificent left-arm paceman Dion Walles who captured 21 Josephian wickets in 1946-47. Clive Inman, by weight of his huge cricketing exploits (he once held the world record of 32 runs in an over, subsequently broken by Sir Garfield Sobers) gets the nod as captain.

Cricketers from later years making it into the side are Rohan Buultjens and national caps Russell Arnold and Rumesh Ratnayake. As a journalist, I covered the Joe-Pete encounter in 1979 and watched in awe as Buultjens tore into the Joes to register twin unbeaten centuries.

PETERITE TEAM OF THE ‘60s Adiel Anghie (wicket-keeper), Darrel Wimalaratne, Roy Dias, David Heyn, Peter De Niese, Tyrone Le Mercier, Rodney Paternott, Travis Fernando (Captain), Tony Opatha, Maurice Deckker, Anton Perera. 12th man: Rory Inman. Reserves: Hamish Paternott, Denham Juriansz and Stephen de Niese.

ALL-TIME GREAT TEAM Adiel Anghie, Russell Arnold, Roy Dias, Clive Inman (Captain), David Heyn, Rohan Buultjens, H.I.K. Fernando (wicket-keeper), Tony Opatha, Rumesh Ratnayake, Travis Fernando and Dion Walles. 12th Man: Rory Inman. Reserves: Rodney Paternott, Tyrone Le Mercier and Peter De Niese.

Join the discussion: Who would you nominate in your Peterite all-time great team? Send us your teams of the 1950s, ’70s, 80s, ’90s, or 2000s. Write to us at contact@peteritereunion.net. Posted on November 16th, 2013

LEST WE FORGET – ARDEN NELSON COMBO OF THE SIXTIES BY UPALI OBEYESEKERE

Arden Nelson is a name synonymous with music in the sixties in Colombo. Many from this era would recall the Arden Nelson Combo with familiarity for having played for your engagement, wedding or other social functions you attended. Many old Peterites here in Canada would ofcourse remember the galaxy of musicians that walked the same hallways as us and later became stars in the music field in Sri Lanka and overseas. Arden was one such star. He was a quieter person, not the typical hyped up musician but a talented musician who had a passion to contribute to the evolving music scene in Colombo at the time. He formed the Arden Nelson Combo in the early 60s and played the Saxophone. The combo comprised of Arden on Sax, Lester Weinman on Piano, Tissa Jayatileke on Trumpet, Geoff Labrooy on Drums and another who dabbled with a skiffle base.

The initial influence that fashioned the Arden Nelson Combo was music made famous by the Dutch Swing College Band who had big hits like ‘Ice Cream’, ‘Marina’, and ‘Tennessee Waltz Rock’. The overall characteristic sound of the Dutch Swing College Band required a string instrument such as a ‘Banjo’ and after searching around Arden found an unknown banjo player by the name of Raddy Ferreira who brought his talent into the group. The Combo had gigs at most night clubs and dances in those days. It did not take long for Raddy to make it ‘big’ on his own. As time went by, the Arden Nelson Combo scame to be known as ‘The Musical Comets’ and later to ‘Raddy Ferreira Combo’. Raddy switched to Piano after Lester Weinman won a Dufferin Scholarship and left the band to go to India for Marine Engineering studies. Travis Koch joined the band and did well with his Double Bass and Stanley Ranasinghe replaced Tissa Jayatileke playing the alto saxophone. With Arden Nelson playing the saxophone the band soon developed its trademark sound – the twin saxophone sound of Billy Vaughan Orchestra. Another Peterite Darrell de Silva, joined the band later on bass guitar. Stanley Ranasinghe was replaced by another Peterite Anton de Mel.

Incidentally, Darrell de Silva, Anton de Mel and Lester Weinman were all class mates of this writer and we shared some fond times together. Arden and Raddy were school mates – a class higher or junior, I cannot recall at present. But we used to walk to college from the Bamba Flats.

The band’s popularity increased and it was booked for weddings and dances at the Taprobane Hotel, Ceylinco House and Rugby Clubs such as Havelocks and CR & FC. The band had a good run till mid-sixties and split when Arden, Raddy and Darrell left for greener pastures and emigrated to Australia. In Melbourne, Arden focused more on his studies (Accounting) and played occasionally with his buddy Darrell de Silva’s band ‘Good Vibrations’ and a few other bands. Now he gets together with other musicians of the sixties era and plays Jazz Music, according to news from our classmate at St. Peter’s College – Darrell de Silva.

Arden is married to Marcia and the couple have four children – son Graham and three daughters and a few grandchildren. Recently, Arden (shown with his sax) celebrated his 70th birthday with family and friends. From what this writer learns, guests were enthralled to hear the golden sounds coming from the Saxophone played by Arden who had assembled a few of his old musical buddies and entertained the crowd to pretty good dance music. At this impromptu get together, his cousin Geoff Labrooy was on Drums, France Smith on rhythm guitar, Dallas Achilles on Trumpet, Rodney Jansz on lead guitar and Darrell de Silva on bass guitar. Birthday boy Arden Nelson had thrilled the guests with his Saxophone and the band had blended excellently.

Arden and Marcia visited Toronto about five years back and this writer had the pleasure of taking the couple to the Connections-55 dance organized by Archie and Wendy Keil. The Sri Lankan Anchorman takes this opportunity to extend our belated wishes to Arden for his October milestone birthday just passed. We wish him well.

This article has been extracted from St. Peter's College OBU Website.

The Golden Jubilee Joe Pete Cricket Re Match – Report

It started with an idea in 2007, and went on to become a reality in 2009. It was the 1984 Joe-Pete 50th Encounter re-match, with participation from players of the original two squads that took the field at the P. Sara Stadium all those years ago.

On Wednesday 4th March 2009 at the Colombo Cricket Club (CCC) grounds, SPC led by Senarath Seneviratne and SJC led by Rajkumar Sabanayagam (in the absence of Jivaka Candappa),came together after 25 years to partake in this long awaited encounter. This re-match event had the blessing of both Schools in Colombo, and was featured in the programme as one of the key events in run up to the main 75th Joe-Pete Cricket encounter (played on 6th & 7th March 09 at P. Sara Stadium) celebrations. Therefore the 50th encounter players were only too happy to contribute and make this happen.

A very high percentage of the original players graced the field to partake in this unique event. Players flew in from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Hong Kong, UAE, and UK to join their team mates based in Sri Lanka to help make this event a success, A small organising committee from the start was set up to plan this event. After two years of numerous emails, phone calls (between Hong Kong, UK and Sri Lanka) and ad hoc rendezvous in Colombo, we made it! This whole event was self funded by the players of the two respective squads. Also the SPC team took this opportunity and made a donation of over LKR 550k to the SPC Cricket Foundation, through personal and souvenir advertisement means. This was a brilliant effort considering the collective cost (shared by SJC & SPC), to stage the CCC re-match event was LKR 450k.

As this event got closer, the competitiveness between the ‘Saints’ came out in many forms. For many who had not held a bat or ball for the last 25yrs, suddenly fitness and practises were top of the agenda. Brisk walks, road runs, visits to the gym, and hiring personal trainers run up to this event became the norm. Also the banter on emails and phone calls to the tune of, ‘we are going to give you a hiding’…….’our fast bowlers’ pace is still in the 90 mph range’…….’our batsman’s timing is still like Tendulkar’s’…….’we will show no mercy on the day’…….and many more ‘sledging’ remarks from both sides created a fascinating build up. Hey none of us wanted to lose this match (just imagine after the build ups if the result was not favourable, and to live with it for the rest of ones life?!?) Especially since we didn’t anticipate doing this again, after another 25 years in 2034! From the Peterite camp the build up in Colombo was brilliant. Some of us met for the first time after many years, at a party hosted by our Skipper at the CCC on 1st March. Our Skip thought it would be a good idea to do this when all our overseas based players reached Colombo, so that some of us could recognise each other by our different shapes, sizes and some with trendy bald hair cuts. Then we had a couple of practise sessions at the SPC grounds on 2nd and 3rd March. It was wonderful to see the same styles and mannerisms in action.

Also one of the highlights that made us all burst out with laughter, when our veteran Murugesh (grounds man of 33 years) had the cheek to say, and ‘if only we had practised so hard 25 years ago’. After two evenings of solid willow versus leather sessions, tactics and formats were discussed, and we were ready! Our skipper even imposed a curfew that night! I guess even after 25 years he was still in charge! So any grand plans of late night escapades some of us had, prior to this all important clash was put on hold in case we were spotted and reported to the team management. There was a lot at stake, and we had a mission to accomplish! So the stage was set for the 4th March at the CCC for this 30 over’s per side clash. With a papare band playing outside, popular music, and steel bands providing entertainment inside the pavilion helped to create a ‘big match’ atmosphere for the players and spectators.

From our event coordinators Romesh Kenny, Rohitha Thilakaratne and Prasadini Dekker to helper’s, players, umpires (provided by Sri Lanka Cricket) and scorer’s (provided by Sri Lanka Umpire Association) arrived early. Friends, family and invitees followed soon after. A re-match souvenir was also produced, thanks to individuals and Companies buying advertisements, which were also part of the donation made to the SPC Cricket Foundation. The Joe’s likewise donated their share to SJC. At 8am prompt official photographer Ajith Perera was there to capture us all in white, with our respective coach’s. Then he rushed off to his studio got it developed and framed as a memento, to be presented to the players at the end of the day. Now that is service! Further to this we were also lucky to have the camera clicking services of Ricardo Dekker all day. Many cool action shots were taken by him, including the attached photos.

The all important toss was won by Senarath our Skipper and without hesitation opted to bat first. Then just prior to the Umpire shouting ‘play’, both teams lined up together for a two minute silence in memory, of our fellow players and masters who were part of both squads, but no longer on this earth. After a good start SPC were suddenly 47 for 6, but recovered well to get 147 for 9 in 30 over’s. After a long lunch break with both teams mingling with each other and with family and friends, we went back in to the field of play. Our skipper’s motivational speech was, ‘right then lads some of us put in a lot of effort to organise this event, so nothing short of an SPC win is expected!’ So that is exactly what we did folks. After a great display on the field we won. SJC ended up at 143 for 8 in 30 over’s. SPC won by 4 runs.

We Won! We had to. It was a great feeling! What a match! (See attached the Daily News article). Our Josephian brothers came to the party from the very beginning, and helped to make this event great. They tell me their pre, during, and post Match experiences on and off the field was thoroughly enjoyable too. This was the main thing when we embarked on such a feat. That shows our friendship between both schools after many years continue to be extremely solid. (Also noted in Rev. Fr. Travis Gabriel’s speech). In fact amazing is the word that comes to mind. Reflecting after the event one can only feel very proud, that we pulled off something of this magnitude, and unique which went on to become an overwhelming success! When the sun eventually set on that glorious day at the CCC, more music, dancing, and a free bar kept us all going until late.

During the presentation ceremony very touching speeches by Rev Fr. Travis Gabriel (SPC Rector), chief guests Dr HIK Fernando (SPC Coach 1984), Fairlie Dalpathado (SJC Coach 1984), Senarath (SPC Captain), Rajkumar (SJC Captain), and a job well done by MC Nandi Anthony rounded off a superb day! Yours truly too contributed with a few words.

WHAT A MEMORY!

The teams, SJC…….Rajkumar Sabanayagam, Dharshana Muthumuni, Mohan Ratnayake, Rukshan Soza, Brian Rajadurai, Suresh Mirando, Ajith Allirajah, Harin De Silva Wijeyaratne, Rohitha Thilakaratne, Chula De Alwis, Shehan Fernando, Nandi Anthony. (Coach: Fairlie Dalpathado). (Absent: Jivaka Candappa, Jonathan Alles, Rohan Weerakkody).

SPC…….Senarath Seneviratne, Heshan De Silva, Shafeek Rahim, Rohan Paulpillai, Riyaz Farcy, Royce Buultjens, Ranmore Martinesz, Hareen Marcelline, Dilrukshan Fonseka, David Joachim, Sudath Kuruppu, Dr Rukshan Bellana, Nishantha De Silva, Suharshie Fernando.

(Coach: Dr HIK Fernando). (Absent: Sean Nugera, Suresh Sebastian).