Jayaweera hosts memorable Thurstanite reunion in Sydney
 They
are having a time of their life! Sri Lankan cricket supporters in
Wellington, Dunedin, Christchurch not only flocked in their numbers with
lion flags and papare bands, but held lavish parties wishing the Sri
Lankan cricketers well in their quest to win the 2015 World Cup.
Cricket fans from around the globe have descended on these cities,
staying with friends - some households packed with 10 to 15 visitors.
There is no grumbling by the hosts because they are all here with one
aim and that is to see the team win the World Cup.
The cricketers obliged with victories over Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
although losing to New Zealand. The fans were sent into raptures by
thrashing the much hyped England cricketers by 9 wickets, with 'Mr.
Exquisite' Kumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne reeling out centuries.
With the Sri Lankan team through to the quarterfinals and now in
Sydney to play Australia today and then Scotland in Hobart on March 12,
Lankan fans from New Zealand have now invaded Australia.
Reunion of Old Thurstanite sportsmen
In Sydney, Jayantha Jayaweera and his gracious lady Prasani held a
party which they tagged a reunion of former Thurstan College sportsmen
which guests included former cricketers, captains and rugger captains
and a mix from other schools.
Among those present were Former Supreme Court Judge Suresh Chandra
Rajaratnam who played for Thurstan, Gamini Jayaweera, brother of
Jayantha who played for Isipatana in 1966, Ajantha Nagodawithana who
captained Thurstan in 1968 - Lalith Jayasekera who captained in 1972 and
Srinith Gunesekera rugger captain in 1974.
Also present was my former team mate at Saracens, the hard hitting
right hand batsman B.N. Mahmood who had good run scoring record for the
Rifle Green Club and who also played for the Sri Lanka Board X1 against
Australia. He 'hammered' Australian spin ace John Gleeson for sixes at
the Colombo Oval.
Host Jayantha Jayaweera played for Thurstan from 1971 to 1973 and
later showed his prowess playing for Saracens in P. Sara cricket from
1975 to 1977 under Ralston Burke, the late Percy Perera and M.
Sivabalasingham.
Successful school cricket career
Meeting Sureshchandra who after a successful school cricket career
and turned cricket commentator, brought back memories of a P. Sara match
between Saracens and Nomads in 1972 at the Nomads Ground, where now
stands the Nelum Pokuna and his brother Amresh was involved.
Firstly a little about his two other brothers Amresh who played for
Wesley and Diyanesh who played for Thurstan. Amresh a fine left-arm seam
and swing bowler captained Wesley and then turned out for Nomads.
Amresh and the writer played for the Sri Lanka Board President's X1
Captained by Michael Tissera against Hong Kong at the CCC Ground in
1972, ten years before the country attained Test status.
Diyanesh was a stylish right hand bat for Thurstan and later played
for Tamil Union scoring heavily and one match I remember well was the TU
versus Saracens game at Rifle Green where Diyanesh and S.S. Kumar scored
centuries.
Now domiciled in the Caribbean
Back to the Saracens v Nomads P.Sara game at the Nomads Ground and
where Saracens Captained by Shanti Pieris beat a star-studded Nomads
team Captained by M. Sivanathan an excellent wicket keeper now domiciled
in the Caribbean.
Here's an incident that took place in that game. The Nomads who with
a strong team were making a strong bid to win the P. Sara Trophy had a
brilliant set of all round cricketers whose names the writer will
mention later - lost on the first innings to Saracens and made a bold
attempt to win the game outright. This was a final round game.
The Nomads in their attempt in their second innings made a bold
declaration. Saracens took the challenge and changed the game on its
head winning outright at the end.
With Saracens going well at the wickets were Percy Perera and the
writer. Percy hit a ball from Daya Sahabandu that went high and Amresh
at mid-on grabbed the catch and while falling, the ball that was still
in his hands struck the ground and the ball could not be taken out from
his hand because he had suffered a fit.
Scampering singles
While Perera and the writer were scampering singles we asked umpire
Allan Felsinger how many singles we could run till the ball was
retrieved from Amresh's hand. 'Run till your tounges hang down' said
Felsinger with his usual stammer.
And if my memory serves me right we ran something like 10 singles
which helped in our chase for victory. And win we did outright. The game
was watched by a large crowd that had thronged the ground and the road
opposite St. Bridget's Convent.
It was mayhem as the jubilant Saracens supporters ran on to the field
and carried Perera and the writer shoulder high. It was emotional and a
scene to remember that is still etched in my mind.
Some of the names of the teams who played in that game and come to
mind are -
Saracens: Shanti Pieris (C), Ralston Burke, B.N. Mahmood, H.M.M. Aly,
T.K.Palitha, Aubrey Kuruppu, Percy Perera, Elmo Rodrigopulle, Nihal
Seneviratne, Nihal Silva M.M. Nazeem and M. Weerabangsa. Nazeem with an
action that resembled former Australian pace bowler 'Froggie' Thomson
was in Galle on business when the tsunami struck.
Nomads: M.Sivanathan (C), A.C.M. Lafir, S. Skandakumar, Amresh
Rajaratnam, T.B. Kehelgamuwa, D.S.de Silva, D.P. de Silva, A. Polonowita,
Daya Sahabandu are the names that come to mind.
Nomads fielded strong team
The Nomads fielded a team with the bottom line being to win the P.
Sara Trophy which was on offer and the trophy to be won. Nomads fielded
the best and strongest team in that final round that also featured clubs
such as the SSC, NCC, Nomads and Adastrians.
Nomads were supported by Municipal Commissioner B.A. Jayasinghe a
likeable and efficient Commissioner who promoted sports such as cricket,
football, netball and other sports that brought honour and credit to the
Municipality.
These three sports were tops and had the best of players. Jayasinghe
employed most of the sportsmen and women as Park Instructors. That was
an era when even in the Parks sport was alive and kicking. Sad that it
is not so now.
By the way enjoy life now. It has an expiry date on it.
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