THE GAME'S THE THING - 70TH BATTLE OF THE
BLUES BY C.H. GUNASEKARA
The Eighteenth of March 1949 dawned like any
other March morning, hot sultry and humid with a hint of rain about.
But yet it was different, particularly for 22 schoolboys and more so
for two of them, for on them rested the honour and glory of their
respective schools. It was the morning of the Seventieth Battle of
the Blues.
Having assembled at College for the usual team
photograph in the morning we boarded the special bus that was to
take us to the Oval for the great event, the greatest sporting and
social event of the year, a red letter day in the calendar of every
blue blooded Royalist and Thomian. Our team was strong with a good
batting line up headed by four centurions and a variety in bowling,
but so were the Thomians, which thus promised to evolve into a stern
contest.
I won the toss and sharp on noon took Kasi
Jilla out to open the proceedings which sparked off like an
explosive cracker. Schaffter opened bowling from the scoreboard end
and I drove the first ball into the covers for a brace and followed
next ball with a similar stroke to the boundary. A stroke to third
man for three and a couple to Jilla gave us 11 runs in the first
over and we maintained this pace to rattle up 34 runs in 25 minutes
at which stage my partner, not the swiftest of runners, was run out
for 13 in attempting an impossible second run. This was a personal
disappointment to me, because it was the only match of the four in
which 1 played, where I was not involved in an opening partnership
of more than 50, and there seemed no reason why we should not have
got there because in this short space of time we had taken complete
control of the game and were in no kind of bother at all.
This upset me somewhat, but we had the
consolation of seeing Hapugalle settling down to a good innings,
when I was suddenly snapped up behind by Jayalingam off Chellaraj.
However, there was nothing to get alarmed at and the middle order
prospered through solidity from Hapugalle (42), brilliance from
Gamini Goonasena (58) and consolidation from Vairavanathan, till we
had the mortification of seeing the latter run out for a smoothly
efficient 39. From being 3 down for 150 odd, it became 6 for 220 in
a little over 3 hours, but yet with more batting to follow we found
ourselves collapsed unexpectedly for 242 just after tea. Still, we
had travelled at a fair gallop at over a run a minute and believed
we had the bowling to contain them.
The Thomians began their innings at 4.40 p.m.
with left hander K. C. E. Perera and Vernon Tissera, a stylish
little player with a penchant for the hook, though not always
judicious. I had observed this in his innings of 90 odd against St.
Joseph's earlier in the season and evolved a plan to destroy him on
his strength. We got rid of Perera fairly early and then decided to
put our little plan into operation. This was to first give him the
"feel" of the stroke and then trap him into indiscretion. The best
architect for the treachery was leg spinner Goonasena and he was
instructed to give him a short ball with which to whet the batsman's
appetite and follow up with one which was still short, but not
quite, with an extra load of spin which means speeding through
quicker and catching the batsman unawares to be trapped l.b.w. in
mid stroke, or mistimed the shot. Our best fielder Valentine
Gunasekara was moved into short square leg, somewhere near the
umpire for the mis cue, and the stage was set.
The second ball of Goonasena's next over was a
rank long hop which was summarily dispatched to square leg amidst
jubilant Thomian cheering and the first part of our strategy had
worked. The fourth ball was deceptively like the earlier but a shade
fuller in length and with that extra bit of spin to hurry it
through. Sure enough, Tissera fairly jumped into the shot and again
sure enough, beaten by the extra pace, top edged it into a gently
carving parabola. With the stroke, Gunasekara took an instinctive
step back but then found the ball dropping short and he had made a
terrible misjudgment. But he corrected himself in time and finally
caught the fast dropping ball on all fours with hands cupped over
the grass as if in an attitude of prayer. Jubilant, we were
congratulating ourselves, when we noticed that the batsman was
making no effort to move. On appealing to either umpire in turn, we
were horrified to have our appeal negatived and we had had our first
set-back. I was fielding at mid-wicket and saw that it was as clean
as clean a catch could be. Though the batsman scored only a further
15 or so it did not appear to matter much, but it cost us time,
morale and a further break-through. We swallowed our disappointment
and carried on.
In spite of this, we had them struggling at 45
for 3 with skipper Shanti Kumar and left handed all rounder
Cheliaraj effecting to resuscitate the ailing innings. The score
moved up very very slowly to 56 when Chellaraj was palpably run out
and correctly given out, but the umpire in passing just mentioned
that the batsman had inadvertently bumped into a fielder, fielding
close to the wicket and if I so desired I could call him back. Prior
to this incident I remember drawing the attention of the batsmen to
the position of this particular fielder and they made no objection.
I was well within my rights to let matters stand as they were, but I
gave it thought for a fleeting moment and instinct prompted me to
call him back. After all it was only a cricket match, even though a
prestigious Royal-Thomian, but still only a game of cricket. This
incident earned me a glowing editorial in one of the national
"dailies" but nearly cost us the match.
Shortly after this incident our fast bowler
Atapattu suddenly pulled up with ham string trouble In the middle of
an over, but though the laws permit the over to be deemed complete
at that point, I requested him to stand at the bowling crease and
roll his arm to get through the over. Understandably he presented
two juicy full tosses which were gratefully despatched for 4 apiece
and the batsman...... Chellaraj. Surely a case of one good gesture
deserving another!
Atapattu went off the field and our twelfth man
Nagendran took his place. 1 was fielding at cover to the left hander
batting at the Tennis Court end nearer the pavilion and to save time
1 moved over to mid off and put Nagendran at cover point to save him
a long trek across the field. Almost Immediately Chellaraj slashed
at one outside the off stump and gave a dolly to the newly arrived
sub, but poor fellow beside himself with nerves and not yet attuned
to the light, stuttered about, sat cross legged on the grass and
spilled the chance. "If" and I stress the word "if" I was where 1
was, I may have clung on to the chance and this could have thrown a
different complexion on the game, for we would then have been
amongst the inexperienced freshers with a good chance of restricting
their score. But there is no scope for "ifs" in cricket and dropped
catches have to be paid for. Instead of being 70 for 4 (or 56 for 4
at the time of the run out) they finally ended the day on 97 for 3,
scored in 100 minutes.
Next day they got up to 225 with Shanti Kumar
grafting a captain's Innings of 55. There was not much left in the
game at this stage and our idea was to score a few quick runs and
effect a token declaration though neither side had any real chance
of forcing adecision. But we were rudely stopped in our tracks by a
truly inspired spell of fast bowling by Schaffter. The wicket had
quickened up by now, and bowling with rare hostility and fire and
with just that extra little bit of bounce and movement off the
wicket, he had us in all sorts of trouble. Just after we put a
thoroughly convulsive nose ahead of three figures 1 was
contemplating a declaration, but the decision was taken off my hands
when our last man obligingly got out. Schaffcer came through with a
truly magnificent performance with figures of 160 2M 27R 6W to put
his team in with a chance.
I was not unduly disturbed and knew we could
bottle them up in case of need, but for once they took the challenge
and fairly waded in, knowing full well that they could not be all
dismissed In 65 minutes. K. C. E. Perera led off with a spanking 47
and Bradman Weerakoon followed with a hard his 36, and lo and
behold, come the last over and S. Thomas' find themselves with six
wickets in hand and seven short of an unexpected triumph! I am in a
quandary. Am 1 to save the singles or the fours? We decide to
concentrate on one side of the wicket come what may, and the field
is set accordingly. Three results are possible now— one of them
highly improbable. Could it be a draw, victory for S. Thomas' or
could it be a win for us, after all only two successive hat tricks
to get!
Goonasena the only bowler capable and willing
to dispose of those six balls, is to continue. He walks back to his
rather longish mark for a spinner, turns round, lopes in, and bowls.
Schaffter taps and takes a short single. Six runs or six wickets to
get, five balls to go, tension mounting. Royal victory impossible
now. S. Thomas'— well we'll wait and see. Goonasena, a good length
leg spinner to Shanti Kumar, carefully played down ... no run. Next
ball, ditto. Fourth ball driven straight to a fielder and another
hasty single. Goonasena, thoughtful and nervous, but not
showing it and in apparent control of himself, bowls... another
single to Schaffter. Last ball and only a boundary to get, easy they
say, or is it? Shanti Kumar faces up ... relax everybody.........
faster ball just short of length, watchout, a delicate late cut to
short third man for yet another single— and he has not lived that
down yet, thirty years hence. Tension released — a fascinating draw,
both fortunate and frustrating depending on your loyalties. The
crowd surges upon as we leave the field hand in hand, neither
vanquished nor victorious. The game of cricket had won.
We allowed them every chance by not wasting
time in changing between overs which is reflected in the score card—
24 overs in 65 minutes. We could with justification have bowled only
20 overs or even less, i.e. judged by today's standards— and at
their rate of scoring (4.83 runs per over) they would have ended
with only 97 or may be 87, and that would not have looked very
imposing. But we were not taught to play the game that way. Some
Thomians claim that they scored their runs in 60 minutes, and if
that were so, more the credit to us for bowling 24 overs in the
hour. It is hard to please these Thomians anyhow. As for me,
well...... I had the consolation and fortune to look
forward to two more such contests, even though
not as skipper, because there is a rule and a much respected
tradition at Royal that no boy can captain a team for more than one
year. Nonetheless, I just waited for the next encounter.........
