T Nathanielsz: 50th Anniversary of Sri Lanka Cricket (7 Jul 1998)

7 July 1998

50th Anniversary of Sri Lanka Cricket

By Tita Nathanielsz

Were they more spacious days and more gracious ways? I am rushing down memory lane to a period in the neighbourhood of 600 months and I will strive not to sound an old grouch absorbed in the common lament that Sri Lanka cricket is not as good as it should be and this I say from the field to the dressing room the game seems somewhat different.

Cricket in the old days had a charm and boldness at the higher levels before professionalism swamped the character of the game. There was I am, sorry to say a more genteel approach to it all. No one dared question the umpire's verdict. The only possible resentment would have been the occasional tear drop falling down the cheeks and some degree of choking in the privacy of the dressing room when the decision was unkind. There seldom were any boorish outbursts of protests or petulance in our day. The dressing room demonstrations and remonstrations of today have shattered cricketing traditions at its very foundation. Today headgear, thigh guards and chest pads protect the player but there is nothing to protect the umpire from verbal assault from the motion charged player and spectators. I am comforted that I played the game when it was played with much fervour but little rancour without the necessity of a third umpire.

In our days cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mowed and Pot was something we cooked in. We never heard of Tape Decks, Website, Internet, e-mail, Artificial Hearts, Word Processors and guys wearing ear rings. For us time sharing meant togetherness. A chip meant a piece of wood, hardware meant hardware and software wasn't even a word.

How do the cricketers of yesteryear compare with those of today? I stroke my chin reflectively at this stage and wish there were Video Cameras to show the vintage stuff of the past. The most vicious outswinger from the high right arm of Malcolm Spittle and the poetry of motion in the late cut that was taken almost off the gloves of the wicket-keeper by the willow of elegant M. Sathasivam. Then there was the majestic Sargo Jayawickrema whose thunderous cover drives seared the grass to elude Russell Heyn the most brilliant cover point in the country and if there was a bowler who could baffle or tantalize a batsman it was Bertie Wijesinghe with his tossed up delivery that floated across the batsman from just outside length - a lesson in guile and deception.

Can we forget Lucian de Zoysa the leg spinner who twisted like hell, zig zagged merrily and bowled the occasional baffling straight ball and if he ever missed a return catch it was the batsman at the bowlers end who obstructed his view. It was sheer delight to watch Ivers Gunasekera that compulsive tile wrecker who effortlessly lofted sixes at will. His drives were veritable missiles that stunned the fielders and brought great delight to the spectators.

Vernon Prins with his solid defence broke a bowlers heart and he punctuated his innings with impeccable cover drives. Channa Gunasekera was a good looking opening batsman with a wide variety of strokes and Makin Salim was great till he got his favourite cramp. Ryle de Soysa was sheer elegance and Jayasinghe was a brilliant all-rounder. Derrick de Saram was a pretty opening batsman but quite ugly when he missed a catch at square leg and settled to blame the leg umpire for obstructing the view he never had. Ben Navaratne would somersault to left or right and pick a catch in absolute acrobatic style to be identified as the best keeper this country has ever seen or will ever see. What Mahes Rodrigo lacked in height he had abundance in guts. He was invariably impossible to dislodge. Robert de Krester was magical with his off break and leg spin and to restate M. Sathasivam was the unmatchable world beater. There was also 2 absolutely good looking left handers. Gerry Gooneratne with his specialist backfoot drive and Douglas Jayasinghe with the impeccable leg glance. I was no great but that was the company I played in and I relish such memories. I was a shade faster than quick with a 3 step run up. I once recall having bowled a visiting opening batsman first ball and he told the umpire on his way out that he was not quite ready and did not expect a fast delivery.

We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes was discovered and we were the last generation that was so dumb as to think you need a wife to have a baby. We married first and then lived together.

In the old days the Board of Control was a comparatively inactive body with hardly an image of its own until Robert Senanayake awoke and put things together. The First President the fine gentleman P. Saravanamuttu was responsible for the erection of the P. Saravanamuttu Cricket Stadium with a turf wicket that was fit for any standard of cricket in the world. Today it is in a sad and dilapidated state and the members of that club should hang their heads in shame for not arresting that deterioration.

In those early days we never had coaches, we never had Managers and Physiotherapists and we never got a bottle of Beer free. Despite all this and much more, fluent centuries came off the elegant blades of Sathasivam, Mahes Rodrigo, Ivers Gunasekera, Stanley Jayasinghe, Sargo Jayawickrema, Derrick de Saram, Russell Heyn and Gerry Gooneratne against the best foreign teams. I salute our cricketers of today under the stewardship of a mastercraftsman Arjuna Ranatunga.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)