Thomians Bertie Wijesinha and Daminda got wicket with first ball of match

by A. C. de Silva

ROYAL-THOMIAN: March 11, 12 and 13 are three days that all Royalists and Thomians will try to ‘keep free’ as they really have a ‘date’. It’s the 131st Royal-Thomian cricket match on those three days at the SSC grounds.

This match has attained such importance as people make it a point to try and be at the match as it is one-time in the year that they are able to meet friends from all walks of life and exchange pleasant memories of their school days of the past and have a interesting time.

There are many outstanding personalities in the past who have made this match the important one in the school cricket calendar. All cricketing greats of the past, be they Royalists or Thomians will, without a shadow of doubt, be glad to note and probably see in person an old Thomian who has held the centre stage in cricket in this country - that is R. Bertie Wijesinha - the former Thomian cricket captain.

Bertie Wijesinha played for S. Thomas’ as a youngster for four years - 1936 to 1939 (both years inclusive) and he captained the team in 1938 when Royal won, but saw to it that S. Thomas’ won the next year - 1939, that was not all. In 1939, the Thomians won all the matches they played that year. He is one of a select band of ‘Big Match’ winning Thomian captains and also the oldest and most senior Thomian captains living in Sri Lanka today.

He played for the SSC after his schooldays at S. Thomas’. Bertie’s SSC stint was from 1943 to the late 1950s and in many of those years, the SSC were club champions.

Played for Ceylon

He was such a good cricketer that he played for Ceylon from 1949 against Australia, the West Indies, Commonwealth XI, Pakistan and India. He was a technically correct middle-order batsman, a useful medium-pace bowler who was not only accurate but was able to swing the ball both ways and was also a very good fielder.

The Royalists and the Thomians of the past will never forget the amiable Bertie Wijesinha. He was one of two bowlers at the annual ‘Big Match’ to take a wicket with the very first ball of the match.

That eventful day for Bertie Wijesinha came in the 1939 Royal-Thomian when he had Royalist opening batsman V. J. H. Gunasekera leg-before-wicket for no runs. This record was there for 53 years and his early break-through helped the Thomians to win the match that year.

However, in 1992 Thomian bowler Daminda de silva equalled Wijesinha’s record when on his debut had Royal skipper T. Subasinghe caught D. Bodhiyabaduge at second slip in the first ball of that match.

So, there are two Thomians who have got that honour... dismissing a batsman with the first ball of the match.

In the 1939 match, Bertie Wijesinha was in fine form with the bat and scored two half-centuries - 63 and 70 which helped the Thomians to win. S. Thomas’ made 178 and 146 for 5 wickets declared, while Royal made 146 and 175. Then in his first appearance - that’s 1936, Bertie Wijesinha made 57 in the match that was drawn. S. Thomas’ that year was captained by Donald Fairweather.

Bertie Wijesinha spent many years at S. Thomas’, St. Benedict’s and Trinity coaching the first eleven and is proud of the fact that St. Benedict’s were the best schools team for 4 out of the 6 years he coached them.

He was also a very lovable character in the newspaper world. He was Sports Editor of Ceylon Daily News and Ceylon Observer and Features Editor of the Observer from 1951 to 1969.

Come the Royal-Thomian match, and there was the twosome - Bertie Wijesinha and Lucien de Soyza in the commentary box. They did a perfect job for around 30 years with their witty comments. They also did commentaries on the Sri Lanka cricket matches.

Royal turn tables

Talk of Royal-Thomian encounters and there are many matches that have thrilled the spectators. The 1929 Jubilee Match saw Royal turn the tables on the Thomians, though the Thomians had done pretty well during the season.

The Royalists were led by N. Kandiah and included Sargo Jayawickrema, Barney Gunasekera, Derrick de Saram and Hilton Poulier - the fastest bowler among the schools at the time.

Royal won the toss and batted first and to everyone’s surprise the Royalists totalled 293 of which F. C. de Saram scored 72 and Hilton Poulier a hard-hit 63. The Thomians led by Roy Hermon were going smoothly and were 120 for 3 wickets and looked as if the Thomians would top the 250-mark, but the Royalists bowled a steady length and the fielders were smart and they dismissed the Thomians for 190 and the Thomians were forced to follow-on. The Thomian team included Dudley Senanayake, Robert Senanayake, A. J. D. N. Selvadurai.

The Royalists fielded extremely well in the second innings and helped their bowlers a great deal and skipper Kandiah led the bowlers with a haul of 4 for 38 and had the Thomians cornered. The Thomians were all out for 138.

Given a target of 35 runs to make in 12 minutes, the Royalists lost three early wickets, but eventually the Royalists made it - 37 for 3 wickets and won the match by seven wickets.

Then the 1933 encounter provided one of the unforgettable finishes in the history of the Royal-Thomian series. S. Thomas’ was left to make 98 runs to win in 85 minutes. S. Thomas’ were 58 for 1 wicket in 60 minutes, struggled for the next 35 minutes to score 30 runs while the Royalists put their heart and soul to the game to bowl 22 overs in the last 60 minutes. What a glorious draw it turned out to be - 7 runs for a win and 1 wicket left.

Royal: 182 and 146

S. Thomas’: 231 and 91 for 9 wickets.

Neil Joseph - century

Then a few years before - 1926 to be exact, the Royalists were without a win when they came into the all-important ‘Big Match’ against S. Thomas’.

Royal skipper Douglas Lieversz had to do something to pull the Royalists through. The Thomians had a strong side and were clearly the favourites and were expected to rout the Royalists.

Douglas Lieversz and his team were determined to do something special in this all important game. There was that star batsman Neil Joseph, who with his fine strokeplay scored a century to take Royal to 304 - the first occasion on which 300 runs had been scored in the series.

The Thomians collapsed - 126 and 112 with Royalist C. H. W. de Soyza taking four wickets in the second innings which enabled Royal to win by an innings and 66 runs.