Sri Lanka has made its mark in cricket

by A. C. de Silva

INTERVIEW: "Cricket is a game that I love very much and I am delighted at the progress made by Sri Lanka in Test matches and in one-day Internationals against the other cricket playing countries." These are the first sentiments expressed by Felix de Jong and his charming wife Mavourneen who are in Sri Lanka on a holiday from Melbourne, Australia.

For the De Jongs' this trip is also a special occasion as it coincides with the Golden Jubilee wedding celebrations of Mavourneen's parents Arnold and Hyacinth which falls on 26th December.

Cricket is nothing new to Felix who played for St. Thomas' Kotte in the late fourties to mid-fifties and it has brought him many happy moments, especially when playing for the school and later on after migrating to Australia, he has kept his interest alive by following the performances of the Sri Lankans both in Test matches and One-Day Internationals especially in Australia.

De Jong migrated to Australia 36 years ago in 1970, but never lost touch with the game that he loves very much.

He was an allrounder during his school days - an opening batsman and a medium-pace bowler. After having captained the Second XI, his capabilities were spotted by coach Wywill Jansz and he had a fairly successful first eleven career and played for three successful years, having entered the team at the young age of 16 years.

After school, he started working as a planter in Concordia Group in Kandapola under Alan de Saran, but before long he decided to migrate to Australia with wife Mavourneen in 1970 and has been there ever since.

A match that Felix remembers very much is the one where he put on 98 runs in their opening partnership with Maurice Gunasekera for St. Thomas' Kotte. Felix made 55 runs - the highest score while Gunasekera made 30 runs or so.

Cheering was loud and vociferous in the makeshift tent and one of St. Thomas' Kotte's masters Mr. Chacko - the Science Master, overjoyed with the situation, shouted: "Only 2 runs more for the magical 100 and I would bring the tent down, but unfortunately the two runs didn't come as the partnership was broken at 98", Felix said.

Lankans improved side

Having followed cricket for many years, Felix de Jong was of the opinion that the standard of cricket in Sri Lanka has improved by leaps and bounds and now that Sri Lanka is in the Test fold, the cricketers have gained much experience and they are capable of holding their own against any cricket playing country.

He said that Sri Lanka lost the First Test against New Zealand, in the series just ended but the Lankans had the spirit in them to comeback with a bang in the Second Test and crushed New Zealand.

He said that in the good old days when they were playing cricket at school, there were no helmets in use and only the batsmen had their guards, but cricket was played nevertheless and it has come a long way now from those early days.

Both Felix and wife Mavourneen have a great liking to the Sri Lankan team, and though they are Australians now, they support the Lankans even against the Australians.

"We are for Sri Lanka, but if Australia is playing against any other country, then we are for Australia", quipped Mavourneen and Felix agreed. Mavourneen added that she prefers the one-day version of the game as there is action from the start of the match until the end.

Speaking of cricket umpires, the husband and wife duo, said that umpires usually do their job, but one umpire that is hated by even Australians is Darrel Hair.

Fancies cycling

Besides cricket, cycling has captured the heart of Felix who has won the High Level Grand Prix twice - in 1958 and 1960.

Then in the first two-stage cycling race organised in Sri Lanka about the same time, he came in third on the first stage - behind David Manger (first) from Winged Wheel Cycle Club and Ben de Silva came second and Felix (also Winged Wheel Cycle Club) was third, but Felix won the second stage from Marine Drive to Moratuwa and back. It was a time trial.

He remembers with great pride the work done by Mr. Brookie D'Silva of S. Thomas' for cycling in Sri Lanka.

In cycling, one race that will long remain in Felix de Jong's mind is the Road Race second stage race from Tangalle to Colombo - a distance of 133 miles in 1957, beating such renowned riders as Chandra Perera (second), M. Lareef and Maurice Coomaravel on the sprint to the winning post opposite Lake House. 'I took them by surprise on that occasion.' Felix said. In the first stage from Colombo to Tangalle, Chandra Perera came first with S. M. Lareef second and Felix third.