A
Rare Baptism to College 1st XI Cricket
My article is based on
my personal experiences in getting into the 1st XI
Cricket team and also some fantastic games that I was a part of
during my first 2 years in the team. My learning's during this
period is something I even treasure presently. The entire
experience I have referred to as a period of baptism to STC 1^
XI cricket.
After quite a good
stint at junior cricket, I first turned out for 1st
Eleven Cricket practices at the age of 15 years in 1986. This
was at the start of the 86/87 season. At the time, STC had a
strong team comprising of seven coloursmen and some players who
could have simply walked into a Sri Lankan team or at least the
second string Sri Lankan team. It was a pity that there was not
much Cricket played at national level at the time and there
weren't as many opportunities as in the present time. It would
have been totally a different story if some of these guys played
10 years later as they would have had the opportunity to prove
their talent at a very early stage. At the time school cricket
was the 'happening thing' as most of the present day youngsters
would term it.
I had an outside
chance of making it to a vacant opening batsman's slot to open
the batting (with Anura Bulankulame), which was keenly contested
by a few seasoned campaigners, Aruna Gunawardene being the firm
favorite to take that slot. Aruna later on went on to play quite
a number of years for SSC and also made it on one tour with the
Sri Lanka national team to India.
I was lucky enough to
make some good scores in the practice games before to the season
started. In those days the practice games were played against
top club sides namely SSC, CCC and with clubs such as Colts
Cricket club. It was an anxious time for me given the fact that
we had to face certain pace bowlers who were already playing for
Sri Lanka and some who were in the Lankan squad, namely Graham
Labrooy (who was the fastest bowler in Sri Lanka at the time),
Kapila Wijegoonawardene and Mahinda Halangoda to name a few.
Also at the time, we went into bat without a helmet and wearing
very limited protective gear. So I was pushed straight into the
deep end and had to learn fast. More than skill it was a case of
having the guts to face these guys who we knew scared
quite a few senior
guys playing club cricket at the time. My greatest moment was
when I scored 2 good half centuries playing against Kapila
Wijegoonwardena and Mahinda Halangoda who were bowling at their
peak. Looking back one might think that it was not much of a big
deal, but I tell you it was a huge deal to score runs against
those guys who were national players, when I was just 15 years
and just starting my cricketing career at 1st XI
level.
I also found
inspiration when a good pal of mine (who still is) held me to a
bet that I would not make it given that the other guys who were
fighting for the opening slot had a better chance. Given their
past records, I don't blame him for that. However like in any
situation, cricket or life in general, past records do not
matter much, and what counts is what you deliver when it really
matters. I must say that to this date, I thank him for throwing
such a challenge at me, which helped me to be more determined
and hyped me up to play better cricket and make it to the team.
Later in life too, taking-on this type of challenge has held me
in good stead over the years. As they say "A victory or
achievement is more special when people say that it's impossible
to achieve or that you cannot come out triumphiant". I have
learned that critics and opposition at times are better
motivators to achieve one's goal, than flowery words said by
others.
Even though I played
the first two games and scored 49 and 21 respectively, I was
dropped from the side for the next 2 games, which were the
outstation games. I guess I was sad from a cricketing point of
view but no regrets from a personal point of view! However the
message was clear and gave me a good idea about the standard of
cricket required for me to find a permanent place in the team. 1
obviously had to raise the bar on my game! This I guess was part
of the rare baptism that I am writing about. However, with some
commendable performances, where I got 4 half centuries in three
2nd Eleven games, 1 was able to earn a call back and
then cemented my place in the side when I scored a valuable 124
against Prince of Wales when the chips were down and the team in
a spot of bother.
I was later on awarded
1st Eleven colours at the age of 16 years when I
played my first RoyTho that year. I also had the honor of
representing the college for 4 years, whilst captaining the last
year. I was pretty pleased to
aggregate 261 runs in
the RoyTho's that I played, despite getting a duck in the 1st
game that I played in. The only regret that I have to-date was
that I was not able to convert at least one of the 3 half
centuries that I scored into a century. This still stings me
every year when I go through the RoyTho souvenir.
The Golden Years of
STC Cricket
My first 2 years of 1st
Eleven cricket were the most fulfilling years of my cricketing
career and undoubtedly would have been the same for every team
member who had the pleasure and honour of playing. Apart from a
cricketing stand point, it was to me also the two most happiest
years at STC. I am sure my good friends Vajira Wijegoonawardne,
Denver Lewis and Lashan Egalahewa who also made their debut
along with me would agree with my sentiment.
We were coached by Mr.
Bertie Wijesinha and the late Mr. Trevor Edwards. The Master in
Charge was the late Mr. Lal Kumarasinghe. All three gentlemen
were fantastic individuals with a lot of character and toughness
that had a rub-on effect on the whole team.
This era was termed as
the Golden Years of Thomian cricket by many who were
knowledgeable about the game, reporters and supporters alike.
During the 86/87
season, I believe we had one of the strongest School cricket
teams ever, leave alone simply looking at it from a STC point of
view. We were not only an excellent school side but could have
even been on par with a good club side. I am not being biased in
saying this since I was a member of the team, but this was a
fact and the record speaks for itself.
I already covered the
quality of cricket, which we played as practice games, and one
would think that it was simply a case of getting exposure to
high standards of cricket, but whilst getting exposure was the
objective, we also came up with some power performances to
actually beat some of the top club sides that we played against.
I can remember us beating the SSC side, which that year had won
the league tournament. To be fair
by them, they were
sans a few national players but then again we were simply a
bunch of teenagers who had never played at that level.
I could still vividly
remember Johanne Samaranayake who was one of the fastest bowlers
in school cricket at the time, troubling a few of the top
order Sri Lankan
batsman with his short steamy bounces. Johanne along with off
spinner S K Jayasinghe really troubled the best of batsman
during that year and also played extremely well for the Sri
Lankan Youth team. That year the coloursmen were real role
models and I really admire them and to date have a lot respect
for them as they were the guys who set the high standards for us
to take forward. It was like Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda De
Silva along with the other senior Sri Lankan players setting
high standards when Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996, that
transformed the standard of cricket in Sri Lanka and importantly
instilled self belief for the present day cricketers to hold
their own against the best teams in the world today.
The 86/87 team was led
by S K Jayasinghe who had captained the team in the previous
year also. As I said earlier, we had a strong team and showed
our class right from the start by winning the first 4 games on
the trot. I was pretty sad that I got out for 49 against
Isipatana in the first innings that I played for STC 1st
XI, but was happy that I made quite a contribution given the
fact that we were bowled out for 162 due to a fiery spell of
fast and swing bowling by K. G. Priyantha (Represented Sri Lanka
schools) who claimed 6 wickets and superb leg spin bowling by
Sanjeewa Weerasinghe who had, prior to our game, played a test
match at national level. However the talent in our bowling
department was so great that we actually managed to win the game
by an innings, which spoke volumes of our ability as a strong
cricket team.
After winning the
first 4 games, we were unlucky not to win most of the matches as
we came so close but on numerous occasions it was not our skill
or finishing touches that were lacking but it was the weather,
which in most instances prevented us from maintaining a better
record of victories. This was even the case when we went into
the Big match that same year.
The first day was
washed out due to rain and only 1 hour of play was possible. Yet
we were able to capture 5 Royal wickets during that short period
of play. After bowling the Royalists out for 167 we were able to
notch up 245/3 in 245 minutes. I was so disappointed that I got
out for a duck and that too to a 'nothing ball', being caught
down the leg side. However my opening partner Anura Bulankulama
played the innings of his life to score 101 runs in 128 balls.
Anura's innings was one of the best I have seen in Royal-Thomian
matches. Vishan De Mel and Nisal Fernando too played quick fire
half centuries for us to post a competitive score of 245 in 47
overs. If one would remember, this run rate was at a better rate
than a 50 over game at that time, when a score of 200 was
considered an extremely pood score during that era. If not for
the aggressive and attractive cricket played by us, the 3rd
day would have produced dull and listless cricket as the
Royalist were playing negative cricket and were playing for a
draw averaging less than 12 overs an hour during the Thomian
innings. We declared at our overnight score with a lead of 78
runs.
Unfortunately for us
the Royalists played better cricket than in the 1st
innings and managed to save the game due to some dogged batting
especially by Nigel Fernando who occupied the crease for long
hours and stayed unbeaten till the end. This was even after he
had retired hurt at one stage after being hit in his jaw by a
Johanne Samarasekera bouncer. Having being fielding at silly
mid-off at the time, I know what pain Nigel would have been
through as he had lost a couple of teeth and had a sharp split
both externally and internally. He showed tremendous courage and
determination to return to the crease again after a short break
in the dressing room and bat again to save the day for the
Royalists. This achievement was even greater considering the
fact that Nigel was just 15 years of age at the time of his
achievement. Royal were down to the tail when the match ended
and one could easily presume that we would have won easily if we
did not lose 5 hours of play on the 1st day due to
rain. With this, the Thomians hopes of winning a RoyTho after 23
years was washed down the drain.
The disappointment was
somewhat restored that year when we were crowned as the best All
Island Schools Cricket Team. This was a great achievement
considering the talent, which was around in other schools,
and as I said earlier
in my article, the awards said it all about the great STC team
that year.
That year was
captained extremely well by S K Jayasinghe and I really admired
his leadership skills and his qualities as an individual.
However, I really felt for Vishan De Mel, who I felt should have
got the captaincy that year given the fact that SK captained the
side the previous year as well.
Captaining the cricket
side is undoubtedly the best honour a cricketer could have at
STC or for that matter at any school and my personal opinion is
that it's kind of unfair for one bloke to get it for 2 years.
What I say is further justified given that we had an extremely
good side that year, which didn't solely depend on good
captaincy. Vishan was a fine cricketer and had a good cricketing
brain as well and had captained junior sides before. One could
understand that type of decision if there was a pathetic team
and the only bright spot was that the team was boosted by the
presence of the previous years captain who had led the side
extremely well in that year. I personally feel that there should
be more done to groom the guy who is to captain the following
year, so that he is ready to take up the challenge when it comes
his way. At a schooling level, I haven't seen much of this
taking place but if something more is done, I am sure we would
produce better leaders on the cricket field.
The second of the two
years I am writing about (87/88 season), was captained by Anura
Bulankulama and started off with the same enthusiasm and flair
as the previous year. Anura was one of the toughest leaders I
have seen and always used his discretion to good effect. When it
came to decisions to be made on the field, he always did what he
felt was right and did not care much about what others said. He
stood by his bold decisions and had the support from his team.
This really paid off most of the' time and it's pretty obvious
when you read the remainder of this article.
Nobody expected this
team to produce magical results like it did. We started off the
year with a bang by beating Thurstan College by an innings and
mind you it was over in a day, which was a very rare feat and
something I have never heard of. Basically the match that
started at
10 a.m. was over by
5pm with three innings played and STC ending up victorious, I
believe that even the famous match where STC skittled out Royal
for 9 runs ran into it's second day.
The season progressed
very well and even though we came very close to winning we did
not win any games until the last stage of the season. However
the games were played in the right spirit and a very good
example of this was the game against St. Benedicts, which was
the first game of the 1st term. Here too we had sent
the opposition to bat the second time and were cruising towards
an innings victory. Having sent the top order back to the
pavilion by mid day, the 5th wicket fell to a doubtful looking
close-in catch, which che umpire gave out.
The batsman walked
away dejected as he saw that the catch was taken on the second
bounce and so did some of the other close in fielders. With the
batsman walking towards the pavilion, the team got together and
discussed the matter and felt that it was pretty obvious that it
was not a clean catch and that it was unfair. In the spirit of
the game we made a decision to call him back and the captain
called the batsman back to everyone's amazement, which I am sure
none of us had ever experienced during our playing days or even
seen it on TV. Actually this was the reason that we could not
win this game because the batsman who was called back defended
for 4 hours and saved the match for the Benedictines. Even
though we did not win the match, we were received to a standing
ovation when we returned back to the pavilion by both the
Thomians as well as the Benedictines. This was well appreciated
by the Warden Mr. Neville De Alwis and he expressed to us how
proud he was of our sportsmanship. This was also voiced by him
at assembly where we got a rousing applause by our schoolmates.
Looking at the
recently concluded Australia vs India test series, where the
Australians were anything but fair, I felt very proud of the way
we played the game at the time. Just imagine there were no TV
cameras and slow motion replays to prove that we had
appealed and got a wicket for a bump catch and could have easily
got away with it, however back in the day we played cricket very
hard and also equally fair.
However, our bad luck
ended and our hard work paid off in the last few games of the
season, which is what really mattered. We won all 3 games up to
the Royal-Thomian. We beat St. Josephs College, Trinity College
and St Peters convincingly.
Out of the 3 games,
the Trinity game was the most exiting finishes that I have ever
experienced in my cricketing career and which is worthy of
mention. We were cruising all along, and had sent the Trinity
side on their follow-on with ample time to win the game. We
easily knocked off their batting line up and came to getting the
final wicket with 25 overs to spare. With the bowling attack
that we possessed it would have been easy going, however to our
utter amazement this was not to be. The last Trinity College
pair Dayan Dunuwille and Sanjeewa Thalakada were real fighters
and stubbornly played off the overs and slowly closed in on the
deficit. When they had played off 22 of the 25 remaining overs
they had only 5 runs to close the deficit and make us bat again,
but with the changeover taking 3 overs there was no chance that
we could have batted again even if they were all out leaving us
some runs to get, hence getting a wicket was the only way we
could have won the match and that too within 3 overs and whilst
giving them less than 5 runs. However, with every ball our hopes
faded away and when it came to the last over, the Trinitian had
to simply get a single run to cover the deficit and make us bat
again. In the last over there were opportunities for them to
scamper for a single and wipe off the deficit, however the more
senior partner of the pair, Dunuwille decided to simply see it
to the end.
It came to the last
ball of the day and by this time all Thomians had given up and
the Trinitians who had come all the way down to Mt Lavinia had
lined up at the boundary line to run to the field and carry
their heroes off the field. Before the last ball was bowled we
brought in the field close as there was no possibility of
getting a catch in the outfield when the only thing the
Trinitians were looking at was playing off the last ball. Ashok
Senadheera who was fielding at Fine-leg was brought to Leg-slip
position for the last ball bowled by Yasasiri Mendis. I think
seeing all the fielders close-in would have tempted the batsman
to finish the match in style and when Mendis fired in the ball
short of length Dunuwille decided to pull the
ball instead of
defending it. I am sure finishing it in style would have been on
his mind! The ball hit the batsman's glove and flew to
Senadheera at Leg-slip, which he gleefully accepted, giving STC
an innings and 1 run victory. This was a perfect example of
never giving up hope and fighting till the end. Just imagine,
the last pair of Trinity held on for 24.5 overs and just messed
up the last ball that wiped out all their hard work.
So we went in to the
RoyTho with our heads high and firm favorites to break the
deadlock of winning a RoyTho after a drought that lasted 24
years. Besides us having a super side, the Royal team did not
have the same confidence levels and had not performed all that
well during the season.
The match was played
at the P Sara Stadium and we went into the match very
positively. Anura Bulankulama won the toss and decided to bat.
Anura's brother Suresh and I opened the batting and I was pretty
nervous going into bat having scored a duck in the previous year
and my initial goal was some how to get off the mark, which I
did in the first over. We lost Suresh pretty early in the
innings but Aruna Gunawardena and I put on a hundred run
partnership to steady the innings and in the process both of us
scored half centuries. Aruna was to bat later in the order and
was only brought in if an early wicket was to fall and he
certainly grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Aruna in his
debut RoyTho played a superb innings and showed his class from
the time he walked in and it was a treat for me to watch him
from the non striker's end. Aruna was one of those unlucky
cricketers to have played only one RoyTho but he possessed the
talent and class of playing much before but just did not have
the luck to get into the side. He later on proved his talent by
cementing a permanent place as an opener in the SSC team and
also was in the Sri Lankan squad that toured India. We declared
with the score at 254 for 7 wkts. Nisal Fernando who was our top
batsman that year, top scored with a classy 64. Nisal was a
splendid batman and a superb wicket keeper. He went on to tour
India with the Sri Lankan side and played in 2 One Day
Internationals. However, he had the talent to be another
Aravinda in the making, which unfortunately for him and college
did not happen.
Once we got the 1st
wicket, we simply ran through their batting with Suranga
Lokubalasuriya being the only exception, scoring 47 out of a
score of 95 all out. As was the case during the season, it was
our two opening bowlers that did the damage, where Lashan
Egalahewa and Yasasiri Mendis shared 9 wickets between them.
Both Lashan and Yasasiri were class acts and one of the best
opening pairs that I have seen in school cricket. Lashan had a
lot of variation in his bowling and had the ability to swing the
ball both ways, while the extremely tall Yasasiri had pace and
moved the ball in the air a great deal. In fact he had the
biggest outswinger that I have seen and it was a pleasure to
field in the slips to both Lashan's and Yasasiri's bowling. I
was delighted when I was able to hang on to 4 catches in the
match and all were taken in the slips. The majority of wickets
fell for catches behind the wicket which spoke volumes of the
high quality bowling by the two.
Royal was sent in on
the follow on and did not perform any better and were all out
for 87 with the game being over at 10.55am on the 3rd
day when Royal's last man Hemakirthi De Silva edged a ball from
Egalahewa to me at second slip. This gave the Thomians plenty of
time to celebrate a special victory after a lapse of 24 years.
The whole team was carried around the ground to Papara music and
through joy I would have gulped every bottle that came my way.
We celebrated till wee hours of next day morning.
This was an extremely
rewarding experience and a feeling that cannot be described. The
joy of winning after such a long time and the pleasure to be in
that team was simply incredible!
The incredible thing
about this win was that we only got 257 and won by an innings
and 72 runs, which made it the biggest victory for the Thomians
in the history of Royal-Thomian matches and still is. It is the
2nd biggest ever win in the history of Royal-Thomian
cricket matches after Royal's victory over the Thomians in 1938
by innings and 87 runs. The Warden declared a two day holiday
owing to this famous victory.
That year too we were
awarded the best team all Island, and it was remarkable for us
to be the best team All Island for 2 consecutive years.
The two years that I
have written about were very special and were indeed a great
baptism to college 1st XI cricket!
I would like to end my
article by paying tribute to the late Warden Mr. Neville De
Alwis who was a great patron of the game of Cricket and who
inspired us throughout our career at STC. Its people like him
and Rev. Duleep De Chickera, our Sub Warden at the time (Present
Anglican Bishop), who made the difference in our lives and I am
sure many would appreciate their guidance as I do.
Lastly, my personal
advice to any present and future Thomian cricketer is to enjoy
every minute of a Royal Thomian match. Don't let the crowd get
you jittery as this would have a huge impact on your
performance. Even worse, ensure you don't get carried away by
the crowd and lose focus on the game ! Start the game positively
and play to win even if you are considered the underdog. There
have been quite a few Royal Thomian matches that have been won
by the team with the best approach/attitude towards the game and
not necessarily by the stronger team on paper. Playing a RoyTho
is a special opportunity, so go out and make the maximum of it
!!!
I take this
opportunity to wish the Thomian team the very best at this
year's RoyTho and hope they play positive cricket and come out
victorious!!!. I hope the following quote would inspire the team
to do well.
"Nothing can stop the
man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal;
nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental
attitude."
Thomas Jefferson
ESTO PERPETUA
Naresh Adikaram
Captain STC - 1990
