P. L. Arthur ‘Kopi’ Aliws was a great cricketer, coach and a popular umpire and was also the first Secretary of the Central Province Cricket Association (CPCA).
He was popularly known as ‘Kopi Alwis’ and was one of the most colourful individuals to play the game. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 81.
Alwis was 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 in 1943 scoring 121 and capturing nine wickets for 39 runs 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 cricket teams of 1941, 1942, 1943 and was the captain in 1944.
Alwis was also the football captain of Dharmaraja College and was one of the best centre forwards in the game. 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.
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 CPCA. He was also a former Chairman of the Dharmaraja Cricket Foundation.
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 1960’s along with Aelian Weerasuriya and late A. Balasuriya.
This trio went on to form the Central Province Cricket Umpires Association in 1967 at a meeting held at the Police Grounds pavilion.
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