Shanthi Peiris a superb cricket analyst

It really was a thrill for me to bump into Shanthi Peiris at the Parliament walking track after 53 years long years. We last met and played in our big match at the Oval in 1965. Shanthi was the unfortunate captain of the losing Nalanda team and I was the fortunate vice captain of the victorious Ananda team. A.G.Perera who had a magnificent game captained Ananda.

Although it was more than a half a century ago where we displayed our off spinning skills at that big match. I could recognise Shanthi immediately, his prominent nose, the broad shoulders and the shuffling gait was unmistakeable. I was baffled by Shanthi’s sharp memory; he knew every minute detail of that match. On paper the Nalanda team was the weaker of the two. He was quite emphatic to point out that he had a team full of freshers, 8 of them to be precise. Shanthi vividly recalls that the Anandians were so cocky about their victory that a rumour was in the air that the Anandians were to win the match in a day. Shanthi agreed that it was psychological warfare.

Ananda won the toss and elected to bat and the Anandian openers A.G. Perera and Ananda Sumanadasa went off to a comfortable start with A.G. belting a couple of boundaries in quick succession but with the score at 19, Perera fell to a full blooded pull shot smartly taken by Amaraweera. Ananda thereafter had a mini collapse, 3 wickets going down within the space of half an hour. Although the wicket was ideal for batting it was poor batting by the Anandians that led to that mini collapse. At that stage Ananda pinned their hopes on G.C. Perera and on me who had a century under my belt in the previous year against St Benedict’s. That partnership blossomed to 70 runs in 77 minutes when I got out for 25 runs. Brilliant bowling by Shanthi accounted for Lalith Gunaratne and Sunil Wettimuny. Meanwhile Perera batted stolidly, scoring 57 runs in two hours. Ananda folded up for 122 runs, on the final analysis Shanthi was quick to point out that the partnership of Perera and De Silva (sounds a bit like a firm of chartered accountants, yes they were adding to the credit balance) was of immense value and Shanthi adds that Ananda would have been in dire straits with a paltry score of 52 runs, if not for that partnership. Shanthi laments that 52 was chicken feed for them and they would have won that match! He had no regrets and stated that the game of cricket was the winner.

CLUB CRICKET

After leaving school, Shanthi was invited to play for Saracens by late Gerry Gooneratne. Saracens were on the verge of relegation at the time and Shanthi salvaged them. He played club cricket for 15 years. He was also picked for trial matches for the impending tour of Pakistan, which never took place due to the prevailing situation in the country at that time.

He was picked as the 12th man. Shanthi was of the opinion that club cricket then was of a higher standard than now for the obvious reason that few clubs participated at the highest level. Shanthi recalled that in his days there were bowlers of genuine pace with T.B. Kehelgamuwa topping the list and Sylvester Dias and stocky Norton Fredrick not far behind. In some instances, the bouncers they bowled were so quick that the moment Shanthi ducked, in double quick time he could hear the “clang bang” sound of the ball hitting the tin sight screen.

Those good old days Shanthi mentioned that thigh pads were never heard of and he was fed up of getting hit on the thighs from pacies and as a result he improvised a kind of a thigh pad which was homemade. Shanthi went to the nets wearing this contraption and Gerry Gooneratne spotted this and asked Shanthi to remove it saying that if you have a good eye all you need is a bat to defend yourself. These words were uttered by that famous coach simply due to the reason that he knew Shanthi was a fantastic on side player and hence needed no protection for his left thigh. Another important point, Gerry Gooneratne pointed out was that to duck if the ball was head high on the leg side and weave if it was whistling past your face. Shanthi does not think much of the helmets that are worn these days.

Shanthi too is critical about the modern day coach and stated that they should be knowledgeable and independent.

He has a lot feathers in his cap: Shanthi has coached Nalanda, Royal and Wesley and stresses that he was not in the habit of cowing down to the old boys who have become a major menace in leading schools today.

He too has a sort of a record in captaining 3 Division one sides namely Saracens, CCC and Liberty CC.

Shanthi was full of admiration for Chandika Hathurusingha. The unassuming Shanthi is really an unsung hero, he still dabbles in coaching.

Our budding cricketers could learn a lot from this guy who has gone thru the mill in all aspects of cricket and never hesitated to call a spade a spade. 

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