Cricket lovers of Kandy District Cricket Association paid tribute to P.L. Arthur Alwis, who was a great cricketer, coach and popular umpire and was also the first secretary of Central Province Cricket Association.
He was popularly known as “Kopi Alwis” and one of the most complex individuals to play the game. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 81, and this year marks his 16th death anniversary.
Alwis is a man who corrected many cricketers by teaching them how to bat, bowl, field and take up wins and defeats equally. He had the distinction of being the first centurion in the Dharmaraja-Kingswood Big match played in 1943 scoring 121 and capturing 9 wickets for 39 runs in the match to guide the Rajans to an innings and 152-run win. He was an outstanding sportsman from the hill country.
Alwis was the vice captain of the college champion cricket teams of 1941, 1942, 1943 and captain in 1944. This was an epoch making era of cricket for the premier school in the Central hills.
Alwis was also the football captain of Dharmaraja College, and was one of best centre forwards in the game. His father Paulus Alwis was a member of the Kandy Municipal Council and a great cricket promoter.
Alwis coached the Dharmaraja cricket team for over three decades and he produced a galaxy of cricketers. He formed the Old Rajans Cricket Club and entered the "Daily News" trophy tournament. He also founded the Kandy Cricket Foundation and led a team on a tour of India. Alwis’ name was synonymous with cricket at Dharmaraja for nearly five decades and his achievements and contributions are noteworthy. He was a firm believer of the school motto, "Attha hi attha no natho." That is, one has to seek one’s own salvation.
Later he turned out for Kandy United CC and the Central Province teams and also for Kandy Lake Club. He played a key role in the administration of the Central Province Cricket Association and at the time, there were no finances coming from the Cricket Board and they had to find their own funds to host visiting teams or conduct tournaments. He was also one time chairman of the Dharmaraja College Cricket Foundation established to uplift the standard of cricket at Dharmaraja College especially at the junior level where his expertise was much sought after.
Another achievement of late Alwis was that he was one of the first from Kandy to be enrolled as a member of the Association of Cricket Umpires of Ceylon in the sixties along with Aelian Weerasuriya and late A. Balasuriya. But this trio felt that Kandy should have a cricket umpires association of its own and went on to form the Central Province Cricket Umpires Association in 1967 at a meeting held at the Police grounds pavilion.
To the current generation, he is perhaps known as a colourful cricket player, coach and promoter. To the ones who have watched him bat, some swear that he was God’s gift to Kandy, a batsman so correct that as he planted his foot out and defended the smallest fly could not get through his defence. As an umpire he did a genuine job and as coach guided many cricketers to do well.
He was called “Kopi” because he was dark in colour like a cup of coffee.
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