THAT NINE RUN MATCH
It happened 120 years
ago that no one really knows the exact details. As such there
are many varying versions of the result, coloured no doubt by
the loyalties to which ever school the writer belongs to. Being
a Royalist, I am conscious that the same accusations could be
leveled at me. Nevertheless, I venture to put forward my version
derived entirely from all the available evidence/facts so far
gleaned.
The best point to
begin with would be what was recorded by the news papers of the
time, & they are as follows:-
The Ceylon Observer
of 14th March 1885 says that the game was started at 2.30 p.m. on
Thursday but after one over rain stopped play for around half an
hour. On resumption Royal College was bundled out in half an hour
for the grand total of 9 runs. Thereafter St. Thomas' went in &
batted till the drawing of stumps making 138 for 4 wickets. The
following day they advanced their score to 170 for the loss of 2
more wickets when rain again stopped play for half an hour.
The Times of Ceylon
of 15th March 1885 gives very much the same details as given by the
Observer, that the match started at 2.30 on Thursday afternoon & was
interrupted by rain after 1 over. On commencement thereafter Royal
was dismissed for 9 runs in half an hour & St. Thomas' ended the day
on 138 for 4 wickets. Continuing next day they got up to 170 for 6
when rain again stopped the game.
Canon R.S.de Saram, a
former Warden of St. Thomas' College in his version published in the
Royal Thomian Centenary Souvenir of 1979, quite understandably puts
forward a Thomian flavoured view. He says that his source is based
on information gathered from two contemporary accounts written at
that time, one being the above mentioned issue of the Ceylon
Observer of 14th March 1885 & the other the St. Thomas' College
magazine of the time'!!
He goes on to say
that the times of play & the times of commencement of play are a
little difficult to determine & therefore are dependant on
deductions. Thus we are directed towards the same Observer of March
14th 1885 & the Thomian magazine for an answer tor those deductions!
In any event the times of commencement of play to me are irrelevant,
& does not come into the equation for they fail to throw any
significant light on the final outcome of the match. Even if that
was so, do not both the Observer & the Times of 14th & 15th of March
1885 respectively, quite categorically & unequivocally state that
the match did start at 2.30!?. So what is the big deal?
The total number of
runs scored on that first day was 147 for 14 wickets. There is no
dispute on that. Of this the Royal innings lasted a playing time of
a little over half an hour & terminated about an hour after
recommencement, at we could safely assume around 3.30 p.m. because
of the half hour lost due to rain. Play stopped at 5.30, which I
believe was the scheduled closing time those days (though I stand to
be corrected here) & this would mean that St. Thomas' had only 95
minutes of batting time that evening, arrived at by reducing half an
hour taken for the Royal innings, half an hour for the stoppage for
rain, 10 minutes for change of innings & 15 minutes for the Tea
interval. In that time St. Thomas' scored 138 for 4 wickets, a
truely Herculean task judging by the contemporary batting skills of
the late 19th century, more so when considering the mud & slushy
conditions - suggestive of Trumperian & Jessopian vintage what?
Nestor writing in the
Royal Thomian souveir of 1932 says that Royal had to "leather hunt
through mud & sludge" on the first day itself & another report says
that it rained incessantly throughout the Thursday night & the
ground was a swamp the next day. However, it seemed to have
recovered sufficiently for play to have commenced at 2.30 the
following afternoon & for St. Thomas' to advance their score to 170
for the loss of two more wickets, when another heavy downpour drove
the players in. It needs no wild imagination to surmise what further
deleterious effect this last downpour would have had on the already
saturated grounds making play impossible thereafter.
Another report on the
second day says, that around mid afternoon after the Thomian
innings, torrential rain accompanied by thunder & lightening, came
down in buckets for about an hour. At the end of it the pitch
resembled a pond, being six inches under water. a" Here again, one
needs little imagination to speculate as to the condition of the
ground at this stage. Cricket under these conditions!!?
Canon de Saram takes
much pains in laying emphasis on the times of commencement of play,
the word "again", the significant words "for about half an hour" &
"recommenced", none of which actually help to imprint any
significant bearing on the final outcome of the game, which in
effect is the contentious issue. Thus this extraneous mumbo jumbo is
to put us off the trail & could be safely cast aside.
The umpires, one of
whom was Mr. Ashley Walker, the Vice Principal, a master at Royal &
the originator of the series, decided that the pitch was fit for
play. Even if he did so, I honestly believe he forsook better
judgment solely as a gesture of genuine sportsmanship, prevalent in
those times, than for any other consideration, though the boys
thought otherwise since the ground was a quagmire & simply
unplayable on (refer above). And there ended the game.
On Monday afternoon
the Royal principal Mr. Cull, who was reputed to have been be a
martinet, a strict disciplinarian & much dreaded by the boys, called
for the entire team & demanded an explanation. After careful
consideration of the facts he accepted what they had to say. This
very acceptance reached in cold judgment outside the heat &
confusion at the time of the event, I believe must lend weight to my
understanding that the pitch was absolutely unplayable on, not
withstanding Mr. Walker's opinion.
It is hard to believe
that the boys would otherwise have dared defy an Englishman, even
the genial Mr. Walker, in those far off Colonial days, unless they
were adamantly convinced in what they really believed. They were
actually putting their heads on the chopping block, for it is not
unreasonable to assume that Mr. Cull would not have hesitated in
resorting to summary expulsion had he not been convinced by their
explanation. They must have been cast of sterner stuff to stand up
for what they really believed in, a commodity sadly lacking today.
Yet, another very
significant factor that has to be clearly & unreservedly given
credence to, is that in those days the umpires were members of the
staff which was reported to have been a distinct disadvantage to
their respective schools. Any doubtful decision was given to the
advantage of the opposition, unlike today. Thus, all circumstantial
evidence for Mr. Walker's gesture goes to prove just this without
any reasonable doubt. The boys preferred to stand by their
convictions & put their necks on the chopping block rather than be
bullied in to submission.
Finally, Law 21 (a)
(ii) says that in the opinion of the umpires if a side refuses to
play they shall award the match to the other side. But nowhere is it
recorded that this was done suggesting that they too would finally
have realised that the pitch was not suitable for play. Therefore
the correct verdict should be "match drawn or abandoned due to
unfavourable weather conditions" (considering also the spirit
prevalent during that age & period of time).
Then there was a
mischievous story floating around that the Royalists were found in
Kandy the next day (Friday) & refusing to play which would suggest
that immediately after the first day's play they had rushed belter
skelter to the Fort railway station & entrained for their hideout.
How come then that the Thomian innings was continued the following
day7 Succulent fables for the consumption of the gullible.
Therefore, when
discussing this topic the above observation have to be taken due
note of rather than swallowing carte-blanche, inconsequential jargon
such as commencement of times of play & fairy tales like the
Royalists been found in Kandy etc.
(Courtsey
Sunday Island)
C.H. Gunasekara
(Royal College Cricket Captain
1949).
