It was a Poya day and instead of driving up to the P. Sara Oval I settled to watch the proceedings of the third day of the second Test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. After winning the first match, the Lankans did not have the game winding their way this time and it [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Could Bloomfield bloom again?

By S.R. Pathiravithana ; Pics by Amila Gamage
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It was a Poya day and instead of driving up to the P. Sara Oval I settled to watch the proceedings of the third day of the second Test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

After winning the first match, the Lankans did not have the game winding their way this time and it was up to middle order batsman Thilan Samaraweera and tail ender Suraj Randiv to paddle the boat to a degree of safety.

Thilan is a past master of the middle order hog. Yet with a Test batting average of a mere seven runs per innings, Randiv had come even before Nuwan Kulasekera. Yet, what I saw in the eyes of that young lad was a message. His eyes were saying as long as my senior partner is there at the other end I am going to weather the storm. My mind ran back to one of Randiv’s first class innings at his home turf at Reid Avenue – the home of the Bloomfield cricket club.

At once I was taken a few decades into history. While at school at Ananda, our under 16 cricket practices were held at the then Bloomfield grounds at Campbell Park which had a wooden clubhouse perched on two wheels.

The simple clubhouse had been moved to this location from somewhere around Pettah on an unnamed date in the past. Then a while later I learned that the then sports minister K.B. Ratnayake helped the club to move to this present location at Reid Avenue, which was then a neglected piece of prime land after it had hosted an Industrial Exhibition in the 1960’s. Earlier the same location used to be the Colombo race course, under the white sahibs.
The Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club always had a special niche in the common man’s heart. I remember in the 1970’s and 80’s the club was the common man’s hub. In that era club cricket generated a special interest among the public. Unlike today, there was a section of society which always thronged to the venues where the top clubs played.

At that time SSC, NCC, BRC and even Colts had their top cricketers, but Bloomfield had the players and the crowd that were behind them. A match between SSC and Bloomfield or NCC and Bloomfield was a virtual sellout and the crowed around the boundary line most of the time was four heads deep.
People used come a long way to see Ajit de Silva the wilt left arm spinner in operation or to see dashing Anura Ranasinghe tearing the opposition apart.
At one juncture the club carried almost half the national side. With players in the calibre of Bandula Warnapura, Jayantha Seneviratne, Lalith Kaluperuma, Ajit de Silva, the late Anura Ranasinghe and D.L.S. de Silva, S. Illangaratnam and Shabir Asgerally along with Leslie Narangoda, the Bloomfield team was a full package.

It produced national material. Recently while browsing through the persons who have represented the club and worn the national crest I counted a decent lot. Beginning with Bandula Warnapura, Lalith Kaluperuma, Anura Ranasinghe, Jayantha Seneviratne, Ajit de Silva, Sanath Kaluperuma, Brendon Kuruppu, D.L.S. de Silva, S. Illangaratnam, Russell Harmer, Shabhir Asgerally, Sunil Jayasinghe, Granville de Silva, Priyankara Wickremasinghe, Sanath Jayasuriya, Roshan Mahanama, Keerthi Ranasinghe, Kumara Dharmasena, Ruwan Kalpage, Thilina Kandamby, Pulasti Gunaratne, Pubudu Dassanayake, Suraj Randiv, Mahela Jayawardena, Farveez Maharoof, T.M. Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Nuwan Pradeep and Prasanna Jayawardena the total counts a good 29 caps.

For me the man behind the success of the club was teetotaler Shelly Wickremasinghe, who held the reins of the club on three different occasions and the last leg for twenty one long years.

There is more than one inspiring story narrated in the clubhouse about Shelly Wickremasinghe. Even the present Sri Lanka Cricket President Upali Dharmadasa is a past president of the club.

Yet in the present context I have an uncertain feeling looming in my head when I see the poor man’s club in existence. There is development springing right around the location with malls and other paraphernalia.

I fear this piece of cricket machine which has churned a score and a half of national caps cannot outlive the current re-facing of the city. Unlike the other large clubs this club did not venture into other activities and is living solely with its cricket image. I am sure all Lankans love the game of cricket and Bloomfield will also get the wand that bewitched Cinderella touching it.




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