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by Leslie Fernando

Remember former Prisons Department fine all round sportsman O.W. Kern? He is 90 not out. A product of Gnanodaya College, Kalutara, brought honour to his "Alma Mater' and also to Prisons Department. Kern's feat is rare. As a government servant he excelled in four sports-athletics, cricket, soccer and volleyball for Prisons Department.

He was the schools champion athlete 1931-32. He also excelled in cricket and later represented Kalutara Town Club for two years in the 'Daily News' Trophy team under the late Sir Cyril de Zoysa.

Kern's main sport was athletics at Prisons Department. His pet events were 100 and 200 yards, long jump and javelin throw. When Prisons set up a new Government Service 4 x 100 relay record, Kern was their 'anchor' lapper. The other three laps were run by Upali S. Gunaratne, P. Coomaraswamy and P. S. Dionysius all reputed athletes of the day. Kern was also the Government Services javelin champion for seven successive years 1945 to 1952 and was the runner-up at the Ceylon AAA Championships in 1946 and 1950, the winner being B. C. De Silva.

Kern played cricket for Colts Cricket Club in the late forties under the captaincy of the famous D. W. L. Liversz (Snr.) and toured Madras with the team in 1948. He later turned out for Bloomfield A and C Club in 1950. In 1949, Kern represented Ceylon XI against Pakistan as leg-spinner and middle-order batsman. Ceylon XI was led by Sathi Coomaraswamy and the match was played at the Colombo Oval on 23 and 24 March 1949.

Kern had the privilege of captaining the Prisons Department 'A' Division cricket team. Some of his team mates were Norton Frederick, Daya Amerasinghe, Glanville Hamer, Bobby Wickremasinghe, A. Palihakkara, Don Premaratne, Babu Hubert, W. A. N. Silva, Ben Fernando, Stanley de Alwis to name a few.

He led the Prisons Department volleyball team and also played for Borella Rangers between 1936 to 1950.

Prior to his retirement, he was a senior jailor of the department and was the department's Physical Training and Drill Instructor for many years. Kern, despite partially disabled and confined to his home is full of spirit and enthusiasm as he rolled over the pages of time, recording his achievements in the sports arena in a bygone era.

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