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| Sunday, 8 June 2003 |
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Gerry holds Wisden world record In the mid 1940s, Gerry Vaidyasekera was introduced to Wisden Cricketer's Almanack by the late Dodwell Sebastian Soysa, founder secretary of the Ceylon Cricket Umpires Association, when employed in the Survey Department. Absence of news of Ceylon Cricket in the Wisden's of that period, compelled me to fight for a page in Wisden for Ceylon. To do so, I had to show a worthy cause. The platform was set when he discovered that Sir Len Hutton's three century partnerships in his marathon innings of 364 in the Oval Test of 1938, was missing in their records section. When listening to a BBC commentary of this 1938 Oval Test, I never dreamt in my wildest imagination, that this fantastic world record total would one day be broken by boys of my beloved country. Well Done, boys ! When he pointed this out to late Norman Preston, then Editor, he gladly offered me that post of the first Wisden Correspondent for Ceylon, Expressing his opinion, he stated that detecting an omission in Wisden is like finding a needle in a hay stack. Also omissions of this nature are very rare in Wisden which has been baptised as The Cricketer's Bible. He also expressed his surprise that I hailed from Ceylon, whose domestic cricket was not recognised as first class by Wisden and also from an unknown place Potuhera, not Colombo. Gerry now hold the World Record of 48 years of service as Wisden's Overseas Correspondent. My nearest rival is Dicky Ratnagur, an Indian, seven years my junior. his first contribution to Wisden in 1956, covered only half a page. Gradually it increased in number of pages; and 2003 Wisden covers 18 pages, shared by Sa'adi Thowfeeq and Vaidyasekera. Our two major cricket tournaments are now recognised as first class. He is also proud of the fact that single handed, I broke the myth of my previous editors that Sri Lanka was not fit for international cricket. I was well rewarded by being the first Asian to win a page in Wisden for one's personal contribution. This contribution appeared in the 1997 issue when Sri Lanka were World Champions in 1996. In this article, I wrote of an incident in Sri Lanka that glorify cricket as the comforter of the vanquished. Sir John Kotelawela, target of cartoonists, and a late Prime Minister, lost the general elections in 1956. He and some warm supporters of Sir John called on him at his residence in Kurunegala after his defeat. I praised Sir John for accepting defeat as a true sportsman. To this remark, Sir John replied, "Gerry, I have played cricket." This short historic message with deep meaning was relayed by me to all foreign journals and earned their applause. Five Lankans - Sidath Wettimuny in 1985; Aravinda de Silva in 1996; Sanath Jayasuriya in 1997 and Arjuna Ranatunga and Muttiah Muralitheran in 1999 - were chosen as five cricketers of the year by Wisden. The Five are traditionally chosen for their influence on the previous English cricket season. The award dates back to 1889 and over 500 have been chosen. But of these five hundred, our own Sanath Jayasuriya, holds a unique position in the history of Wisden, Jayasuriya has been acclaimed as the world's living leading batsman of the 1990s by all critics. His fame preceded his visit to England. Matthew Engel, then Editor, Wisden's could hardly wait for Sanath Jayasuriya to visit England before he was chosen Wisden's Cricketer of 1997. In doing so, Engel, cast all tradition and history aside, and honoured Sri Lanka as never before. His long career as Wisden Correspondent, I gave prominence to a number of schoolboy cricketers - three of them are Keith LaBrooy of S. Thomas' Arjuna Ranatunga of Ananda and Lionel Fernando of St. Benedict's. Arjuna holds a unique record in that Wisden has given him prominence when as a schoolboy in his early teens, scored a triple hundred and as Cricketer of the year. Gerry's ambition is to celebrate the Golden Jubilee and my service of 50 years as Wisden's Overseas Correspondent will stand as a World Record for a long time. He will continue to give publicity to our cricketers, club or schoolboy, as they deserve in Wisden! |
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