A
letter from Sri Lanka,
with a polite request from the Principal of St Mary’s College, took me down
memory lane, fifty years – half a century (in cricketing terms). I assumed
duties as a teacher at St Mary’s in 1960 and at the request of Mr N
Weerasinghe, the then principal, took over cricket as both the Master-In-Charge
and the Coach. During those years St Mary’s played only two matches a year,
with St Anthony’s College Panadura and the Central College Matugama. One of the
issues that confronted me at cricket was the lack of equipment. Further, even
the little equipment we had was in very poor shape. I knew if cricket was to
flourish at St Mary's, proper equipment was required and funds needed to be
spent. Mr Athukorale, the new principal was very supportive of the cause and
approved funds straight away. Cricket equipment those days was sold at the
school by a visiting van from Chands, the sports goods people. The following statistics may not be exact,
but if my memory serves me right, I bought equipment amounting to around Rs 500
and that was a princely sum at that time. I think an unseasoned bat was around Rs
65 and a practice ball was around Rs 5. I am sure today’s generation who reads
this will marvel at those prices, but believe me, that was a lot of money those
days.
After
this exciting purchase, we were better equipped for cricket and then the seed
for the next step was planted. 1963 was a significant year as the idea of a
“Big Match” was introduced. It was the brain child of Mr. S Atukorala. Badly
needed resources were replenished and the interest grew in leaps and bounds,
which helped to pull us through the organising hardships of the “Big Event”
between St Mary’s and the Ananda Sastralaya.
We already had a fan base with our past students. I myself was young and
cricket mad and very generous with my time for the game. A lot of work needed
to be accomplished to get the event up and running. The pitch needed to be
fixed, finding suitable umpires and many more logistics for the smooth running
of the event needed to be finalised. But we made it!!!
During
that time, there wasn’t a common social event binding schools together for this
vibrant town of Matugama.
The Big Match managed to fill that void.
The whole society came alive and it was so infectious. That interest
spread like wild fire. Of course we had some sceptics too. But nothing could
deter the enthusiasm of so many, thus we had our first big match. Boys flocked
to the ground. Every boy had a dream of becoming a cricketer. Enthusiasm for
the daily cricket practices grew exponentially.
So I feel very proud and (humble too) for being instrumental and being
part of that big idea which brought the whole society together.
As I
stated before, memories of some of the players and their exploits have faded.
However I still remember with gratitude the efforts of the principals, staff,
students and well wishers who contributed mightily not for any financial gain,
but purely to enrich the lives of the school kids. I also would like to salute those who toil to
continue this tradition knowing that it is in safe hands to continue to uphold
the highest ideals of the game.
Lastly I
hope that the 50th Big Match would be keenly contested in real
cricket spirit by both teams, displaying the finer points of all aspects of
cricket.
Good
Luck to all!!!
Cyril Fernando
11, Speet Place
Orange
NSW 2800, Australia
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