WHEN ROYAL WAS LED BY AN ENGLAND
CAPTAIN !
MAHINDA WIJESINGHE
S.R Foenander, referred to as the wisden of the east, and
the doyen of cricket writers of Ceylon, as we were then known, chronicled in
his much sought-after book, 'Sixty years of Ceylon Cricket' (1924), the
following:
"In the
seventies there were only two great public schools of Ceylon, the Royal
College and St. Thomas' College, where cricket was played regularly and
under the supervision of experienced first-class English cricketers. Too
much praise cannot be assigned to Mr. Ashley Walker, the old cricket master
at the Royal College for the splendid foundation that he laid at that
Institution - results of which have been apparent to all who studied the
history of the game with any degree of care. This old Yorkshire county
cricketer and Cambridge 'Blue'..... was undoubtedly a skilful coach and his
instruction to the rising young cricketers of Royal College proved very
valuable and effective ....... Mr. Brooke Bailey was the first known old
academy master to devote his spare time to instructing the boys in the
rudiments and finer points of the game" This was somewhere in the decade
ending in 1840.
It was
also in trie time of Ashley Walker that former captain of England, Lord
Harris, who was then the governor of Bombay, visited Ceylon and led Royal
College against the Colombo Cricket Club. It would indeed have been a great
privilege for the members of the Royal College first XI players to have
played under Lord Harris, who was, in addition to having been a former
skipper of England, perhaps the flagship of the English cricket
establishment.
Of course, at that time, it must be conceded that
S.Thomas' too were not far behind. The key words being 'not far behind'!
They had the services of their sub-warden, Rev. Falkner, described by
Foenander as "a well-known Cambridge cricketer who was doing his best to
develop the latent cricket talent at the' school on the hill". He took it
upon himself to - annually - lead a team of young Thomians against the then
powerful Colombo Cricket Club. During those days the members of the C.C.C.
were only expatriates mainly from England. It is also on record that the
school boys had the opportunity of playing against top cricketers including
I.D. Walker who played for Middlesex (1862 - 84) and A. J. Webbe, the Oxford
'Blue' (1875 - 78) who played in 247 matches for Middlesex (1875 -1900) and
won one Test 'cap'.
No doubt these luminaries taught the boys the rudiments
of the game not only on the technical aspect but also on the spirit of the
game. The Walkers, Webbes and the Falkners would turn cartwheels in their
graves if they knew the drama that is being enacted in what passes as the
wonderful summer game they knew. Alas, that is another story.
At the
beginning, in the 1870's, when the encounter between these two great
institutions of learning began, even the members of the staff were included
in the respective teams. However, the first' official' encounter, as
recorded by Foenander, was in 1880:".... At the start it was the practice to
include masters in the game, but in 1880 for the first time the eleven were
chosen wholly from among the boys....."
In
addition to Rev. Falkner and Asniey Walker, it is reported that Mr. F.
Stephens, captain of the C.C.C. and later their President "directed the game
at St. Thomas' and taught the best cricketers produced by St. Thomas' in the
eighties and early nineties how to play the game. He was a born coach, who
both by precept and example drew the best out of those whom he taught."
So, it
could be observed that, at the beginning, both Royal and S. Thomas' were
taught the rudiments of this wonderful summer sport by the best. Even during
more modern times there were the likes of Dr.D.B. ('Barney') Gunasekera, Dr.
C.H. Gunasekara (Sr.), Col. RC. de Saram, Bertie Wijesinha, Shelton Gauder,
John Halangoda, L.D.S. ('Chippy') Gunasekera, E.C. Gunasekera et al., who
strode the field and coached the youngsters with their own stamp of class.
Sadly, their mould has since been destroyed.
However, we can be proud that the Royal-Thomian series,
now hailed as the second longest, uninterrupted annual cricket encounter in
the world, still goes on. Today, it can lay claim to another record that it
is probably the only school game in the world being played over three days.
So, with such tradition: attached to this annual encounter, we the patrons,
must respect, revere and savour the occasion.
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