The good news is cricket is padding up in Sri Lanka after a long siesta lasting seven months in the pavilion! Can't wait to see the action when our cricketers and the Bangladeshis meet. They have picked a ship load of cricketers and are hard at training and will be here next month to rock and roll the local cricket scene, inspire local spectators who could be restricted into the grounds , albeit with some mask wearing restrictions perhaps, to get back to their ‘Papare’ papare and enjoy.
Especially starved of action is our cheer squad leader Percy Abeysekera who has wrapped up his revered lion flag and preserved it until Bangladesh arrive. He will surely let loose his witty and inspiring comments on the players.
The other day Abeysekera celebrated his 84th birthday, being born two days after the great West Indian and the world’s one and only all rounder Sir Garfield Sobers. Abeysekera still stays in touch and toasts a drink on the two days.
One of Abeysekera’s most witty comment was when a Test was played at the Sinhalese Sports Club. Present in the VIP enclosure was President J.R.Jayewardene a SSC member and former cricketer who played for Royal in the ‘Battle of the Blues’ encounter.
A spectator to tease Abeysekera who was standing with his dear flag opposite the VIP enclosure , shouted: Percy go home’. Percy’s response: ‘Is your wife at home’?. Never before had President such a broad smile on his face enjoying Percy’s reply. The spectator remained silent thereafter with the other spectators laughing at him.
So when the Bangladesh and Sri Lanka teams take the field Abeyekera promises to be on the sidelines voicing his comments on the do’s and don’ts on cricketers from both teams.
The Sri Lankan cricketers are eagerly looking forward to play international cricket after a near seven month drought. All of the players are being put through their paces concentrating particularly on 100 per cent fitness and more.
Being 100 per cent fit in any sport is very essential. Once fit the potential in you especially when it comes to cricket brings out the natural abilities in batting, bowling and fielding.
So here’s hoping at the time of writing that the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh series will proceed without a hitch with both teams playing attractive and forceful cricket with the better side emerging victorious.
Moors Sports Club which has showed its prowess from the time it took to playing cricket have produced many outstanding cricketers with some earning national honours.
Now comes the news that Moors SC have signed on former Dharmaraja cricketer and Sri Lanka cricketer the stylish right hand batsman Chamara Kapugedera as their head coach for three years. Kapugedera donned pads for the country from 2008 playing 8 Tests and 102 ODIS plus 48 T20s.
Kapugedera broke into the national team as a hard hitting, stylish and punishing right hand batsman and made many big scores. Yet why the selectors of that time did not persist with him and encourage and inspire him to unleash his natural talent still remains a mystery.
Their most celebrated cricketer that Moors produced was Ghulam Razick who is no more in the land of the living having succumbed to the dreaded terminal illness. Coming out of Zahira college he shone in club cricket and earned his national cap playing under Michael Tissera.
He was a stylish right hand batsman, fine medium pace bowler who could move the ball both ways and baffle batsmen. But it was as a slip fielder that he was par excellence and he had a quick eye and took some amazing catches. Moors will never produce another all round cricketer of Razick’s class and caliber.
Another cricketer Moors produced who did the club proud was M.A. Caffoor. After shining for the club as a punishing batsman and wicket keeper he was one of the few Lankan cricketers to play Lancashire League Cricket in England and leave his mark. It must be of interest to recall that in the good old days only Muslims were welcome to play for the club with no membership for other nationalities.
So it was it in clubs like the Tamil Union, Sinhalese Sports Club and Burgher Recreation Club. But it was not long before these clubs had to open their doors to cricketers of other nationalities.
The most hit were the BRC with the Burgher community migrating to Australia. They had no option but to open their doors to other cricketers. If my memory serves me right the first non-Burgher to play for BRC was former Kandy Antonian stylish middle order batsman Michael Raj, followed by Benedictine captain Lovelly Rayen and next the writer.
Later left hander Anton Sethupathy who hit the famous England off spinner Jim Laker for three fours in three balls at the SSC when MCC toured here under Peter May in 1958 joined the BRC. Laker was on a tour to Australia after bagging a match haul of 19 wickets in a Test against Australia which record still stands.
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