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| Sunday, 03 August 2003 |
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'Gentle Giant' veteran Prins' funeral today Sri Lanka lost a great supporter of its cricket with the death of former skipper Vernon Prins on Friday. Prins was a gentleman cricketer and was always willing to listen to the other side of the story in every dispute. He never hurt the feelings of others and was loved by all and sundry. He stood tall on the cricket field for nearly two decades. He was affectionately known as 'Gentle Giant' as he stood around 6 feet in height and had a well set body. Prins' talent as a cricketer and leader of men was spotted by S. Thomas' Mount Lavinia which school he represented from 1940 to 1943 captaining the team in 1943 and under his captaincy, S. Thomas' won the 'Battle of the Blues' encounter against Royal by 10 wickets at the Colombo Oval (now P. Saravanamuttu Stadium). He was well built and it was no wonder when he joined Sri Lanka Police soon after leaving school in 1944 as a Sub-Inspector and played Government Services cricket for 12 years. He later worked for a tea company as a manager. Vernon Prins first played for Ceylon (as we were then known) in 1945 as an all-rounder, touring India with Sargo Jayawickrema's team and fro then onwards was a regular figure in the national side whenever Sri Lanka played against a visiting team in the period before Sri Lanka gained Test status. He was known as a right-hand batsman, but he also used to bowl seamers. Prins played against ... India led by Polly Umrigar, Australia who had Lindsay Hassett as captain and the MCC led by Freddie Brown and later by Peter May and the West Indies captained by John Goddard. He also played for a combined Ceylon, India, Pakistan XI captained by Vijay Hazare against MCC at the Saravanamuttu Stadium. With his long years attached to cricket, Vernon Prins played with the older brigade and his contemporaries were Sargo Jayawickrema, Sathi Coomaraswamy, Ben Navaratne, F. C. de Saram, Malcolm Spittel, C. Ivers Gunasekera, Michael Tissera, Dr. Herbert Fernando, Malcolm Francke and K.M.T. Perera He captained Sri Lanka (or Ceylon as we were then known) between 1956 and 1958. He was a Double International as he represented the country at hockey against India in 1947. Vernon Prins, a stalwart of the Nondescript's Cricket Club and having first started to play for the NCC in 1945, he had a long stint and led the team to win the Saravanamuttu Trophy Cricket Tournament on four occasions between 1952 and 1958. He also led the NCC on the tour of India in 1957. For all his services to the club, the NCC made him a life-member and patron. Vernon Prins was a bachelor and his mortal remains lie at A. F. Raymond's Funeral Parlour and will be removed to the Cathedral, Christ the Living Saviour, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7 at 1.45 p.m. today where it will lie from 2 p.m. Service at the Cathedral will be at 4 p.m. and thereafter internment at the General Cemetery, Kanatte at 5 p.m. (Anglican Section). (A.C. de s.) |
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