SOME
REMINISCENCES OF THE 1930s
My association,
connections and memory of the Royal - Thomian 'Classic' goes
back to 1928, when N. Kandiah captained Royal and Roy Hermon led
S. Thomas'. The match was drawn, but had a sensational finish,
with STC eight wickets down and still needing 111 runs to win;
the debacle caused by Royal's S. S. Jayawickrema with a
brilliant spell of five wickets for 24!
That sensation was
sufficient to thrill me and create in me a new interest for the
game and inspired me to begin a new career, as it were; a
determination to emulate those heroes of the game who had thus
inspired in me a determination to become a part of cricket.
Some members of those
teams, to mention them by name, were Harry Roberts, R C. De
Saram, S. S. Jayawickrema and S. G. (Sydney) de Zoysa (brother
of Lucien), for Royal. S. Thomas' had Roy Hermon, C. R
Abeywardena, Dudley Senanayake, A. J. D. N. Selvadurai and
Robert Senanayake who all had some part to play in the future of
Sri Lankan cricket.
Many a match did I see
thereafter until, as fortune would have it, the Royal - Thomian
match became a personal affair! In 1933, my brother Alex was in
the team as opening batsman and leg-spin bowler. He created a
record for a 'fresher' by taking 10 wickets in that match!
Sad to say, when he
and Douglas Bartholomeusz were winning the match for S. Thomas'
with an opening stand in the 2nd innings of some 60
odd with but 97 to get, behold! a mysterious message was sent
out into the field. It said "HIT OUT OR GET OUT!" and those who
followed did exactly that. They 'Hit Out and Got Out!' until the
last over of the day with 6 runs the difference. Shelton
Anthonisz, a left-arm bowler who had no pretensions to
batsmanship was left to face the entire over bowled by Billy
Porritt.
Shelton Anthonisz
stood firm and unmoved, defending stoutly. He saved the day!
BUT who sent that
message? There were vague suspicions, and so, the mystery
remains!
1934 had a special and
personal thrill for me. My brother Alex scored an
unbeaten century
(115). The thrill was somewhat diluted when the match itself was
'left' drawn under somewhat unexplained circumstances: with S.
Thomas' needing only 15 runs to win and six wickets standing.
The match was halted due to "bad light"! Who appealed for it, or
did the umpires call TIME'?
The following year,
1935 was M. 0. (Mervyn) Gooneratne's year and match as he
well-nigh single-handedly won the match for S. Thomas', scoring
the fastest hundred in living memory and taking 7 wickets with
his fast-ish leg-breaks and googlies.
During the halcyon
years ofS. Thomas', they were blessed and inspired by the
presence of John Halangoda as mentor and coach. S. Thomas' was
blessed with great success during the years he took over and
produced some brilliant cricketers - batsmen and bowlers - and
fieldsmen! "Uncle John", as he was* affectionately called, had
in years gone by made champions of Trinity College, Kandy in
partnership with the renowned S. R. Titu's.
Upto that time S.
Thomas' were also blessed by the presence on the staff of Percy
(V. R) Cooke who inspired many cricketers and students of S.
Thomas' both in the class room (Latin and English) and on the
playing field. He went out of his way as he took squads of.-his
pupils into the playing field teaching them the fundamentals of
the game.
Many a Thomian
cricketer owed their later success to Percy Cooke, of lasting
memory. He was a born teacher who extended his influence to the
playing fields. S. Thomas' owes him a deep debt for his
dedicated sway before the arrival of John Halangoda; both were
from Trinity College, Kandy.
for several individual
performances. Norman Siebel, that elegant left handed batsman
scored 151 not out in a total of 286 for S. Thomas' after they
had lost six wickets for only 65. S. Pathmanathan in his maiden
appearance took 5 wickets for 27! Royal declared at 289 for 8
wickets, and then Willie Jayatilleke and Norman Scheffer put up
an unbeaten partnership in the Thomian second innings of 136
which stands as a record to this day. Pat McCarthy was out with
his score at 98!
Pat McCarthy's scores
in the matches were 54 & 3 in 1935, 98 in 1936, 0 & 9 in 1937,
and 81 in 1938. He was such a natural attacking player, so
highly-gifted that it was a great pity there were no
international matches in those days as war broke out in 1939.
But he did play in an international game for Sri Lanka against
the 1938 Australians on their way to a Test series in England.
I am not certain
whether he did get a chance to bat, but he performed brilliantly
in the field where, as always, he had been outstanding.
Recently, Pat had been
in poor health in Australia where he had taken domicile soon
after the War was over, in Perth. He did turn out for Western
Australia in Sheffield Shield Games.
It was saddening to
hear that he had passed away recently - at the age of 90.
In 1939, S. Thomas'
came out to the Big Match with a "Secret Weapon" which proved
the undoing of Royal. Bill Taylor was reported in the newspapers
as a bowler of "Donkey Drops"; a term used to describe his high-flighted
left arm 'lobs', one of which, at least, was the match-winner!
He trapped Royal's chief run-getter, having him caught at deep
extra cover.
But the wicket was not
the bowler's, in this instance - it was the fielder's. George
Ekanayake had been loitering in the deep field, almost
unnoticed, standing deep on the boundary. When C. I. Gunasekera
came into bat,
he had 'sneaked' in
some yards, and when Gunasekera saw a juicy lob, he drove at it.
The ball flew low to extra cover, and there was George Ekanayake
to catch it!
"Catches win matches!"
oft have we heard it told. Here then was proof!
George, on leaving
school, enlisted in the Sri Lanka Navy. He later transferred to
the Merchant Navy. On retirement, he went to see members of his
family in Germany, fell ill and died on the operating table! A
great sportsman who won six or seven colours in College - a
record?
I can go on in this
reminiscent mood, but enough is enough - for the present!
R.B. Wijesinha
Editors' comment - R.B.
Wijesinha was the cricket captain in the years 1938 and 1939
scored two half centuries in the same match, in which the
Thomian team emerged victorious. He has the distinction of being
the oldest living Thomian cricketer, and is held in the utmost
respect among the cricketing community in Sri Lanka, including
the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara.
