Cecil Waidyaratne 8 for 64 and A. Ludowyke 123 - the star performers for Bens

by Dilwin MENDIS - Moratuwa Sports Corr.

INTERRESTING ENCOUNTER: In years gone by - that's in the late fifties there were great cricketing encounters between St. Sebastian;s, Prince of Wales and St. Benedict's. The years 1956-57, 57-58 and 59-60 were particularly good years for St. Sebastian's with their star allrounder Kingsley Fernando to lead the side.

Of special interest to the Sebastianites was the year 1957-58 where Kingsley Fernando captained the team and had other 'big guns' with Sirimal Fernando as his deputy and with Lalith Weerasuriya, Shanton Perera, Dinil Wickremasuriya, Radley Silva and two brothers Jerunns and Perin Jayasekera.

Came the "Big Match" and it was a touch-and-go affairs as the Cambrians too had a side to match Sebastianites. The Cambrians had Lakdasa Gunatilleke to lead them and included in the team were Lasantha Rodrigo and other stalwarts in the calibre of Anuruddha Polonowita, W.G. Fernando, Suranjith Mendis, S.N. Rajapakse to name a handful of names that come to mind in a flash.

Batting was the forte of Prince of Wales and they quickly piled up 415 for 9 wickets - and wasn't the Cambrian camp delighted. However, the Sebastian's took things calmly and with Lalith Weerasuriya leading up front with a solid 102 and they were able to make 319. Other good contributions came from Sirimal Fernando (69) and Radley Silva (50). But the irony of it was that the Sebastianites had to follow-on. St. Sebastian's made 69 for 4 wickets at close and the match ended in a draw.

Big encounter

Then came the game between St. Sebastian's and one of their brother schools - St. Benedict's College, Kotahena. Now this was a big encounter as many big names were also in the Benedictine team. There were allrounders in the calibre of Lionel Fernando, Lasantha Fernando, Elmo Rodrigopulle, Cesil Waidyaratne, A. Ludowyke and B. de Silva -- a few names that come to mind in a flash. Both sides seemed to be heavy on batting and a battle-royal ensued on the matting wicket on St. Sebastian's ground - and didn't the cricket crazy Moratuwa crowd just lap it up.

Then there was that record-breaking cricket match between St. Benedict's and Sister Colleges team where the Benedictine Lionel Fernando scored 200 runs and bagged all ten wickets in an innings.

With cricket gaining popularity, there were many games that caught the eye of the spectators. There was that game between St. Sebastian's and St. Benedict's on March 14 and 15 in 1958 with play starting at 12 noon. St. Benedict's were put into bat by the Sebestainties and the Benedictines just lapped it up and rang up the somewhat massive score of 331 with A. Ludowyke making the top score of 123 and ably supported by Lasantha Fernando (60) while valuable contributions came from N. Amerasinghe (38) and there was another useful knock of 38 by Elmo Rodrigopulle. None of the bowlers of St. Sebastian's command any respect.

Came St. Sebastian's turn to bat and they were all out for 192 with Sirimal Fernando making 92, while Lalith Weerasuriya made 26 and Perin Jayasekera 27. It was here that Cicil Waidyaratne - the Benedictine speedster was seen in devastating form and he grabbed 8 for 64 and following-on, the Sebastianities could not cope with the Benedictine bowling again and were out for a paltry 149 with only Shanton Perera making some resistance with a knock of 41, Sirimal Fernando 28, Lalith Weerasuriya 24 and P. Jayawardena 26 not out. B. de Silva bowled best for St. Benedict's in the second innings and had 4 for 29.

Set to make 11 runs for an outright win, the Benedictines got home, making 12 for one wicket.

St. Benedict's: 331 (Lionel Fernando 27, Lasantha Fernando 60, Cecil Waidyaratne 24, A. Ludowyke 123, N. Amarasinghe 38, Elmo Rodrigopulle 38 not out) and 12 for one wicket.

St. Sebastian's : 192 (Sirimal Fernando 92, Lalith Weerasuriya 26, Perin Jayasekera 27, Cecil Waidyaratne 8 for 64) and 149 (Shanton Perera 41, Sirimal Fernando 28, Lalith Weerasuriya 24, P. Jayawardena 26 not out; B. de Silva 4 for 24).