Old Thomian Bertie enters the 90s
The Battle of the Blues between Royal and S. Thomas’ college, the 135th encounter is much looked forward to in the cricket calendar in Sri Lanka. The game was started by the colonial fraternity as a sport for recreation while the flavoured tea put the country on the world map.
The Royal-Thomian traditional match could be compared to the Eton-Harrow encounter. Dr. C.H. Gunasekera was the first Sri Lankan to play county cricket in England. And Col. F.C. de Saram, the champion of many ball games, was the first to score a 100 for Oxford against Australia. The other Royalist, Gamini Goonasena captained Cambridge and performed a king size job. He bamboozled the Oxford batsmen with his wiles to a right Royal Cambridge victory. Gamini was a pride of Royal.
Bertie Wijesinghe
He was joined by two Old Thomians, Bertie Wijesinghe and Ian Peiris, a Cambridge ‘Blue’. Ian captained the Thomians in 1953 and was the architect of that victory scoring 123 runs. Bertie later joined the media industry and worked as a senior reporter for the Times Group. He encouraged the youngsters to pursue a professional career in journalism.
Ian Peiris said the present day Sri Lankans are superior in every department of the game when compared to past Ceylon players. “I’m only talking about the spirit of this great traditional game. At present I’m on a walker and I will not be able to witness the match”.
“Bertie was a great inspiration. He did everything for nothing. He led a humble life by example. He valued the spirit of the game,” he said about Bertie.
An Anglican by birth, Bertie served humanity without distinction and treated everyone as equals from all walks of life. First a gentleman then a cricketer, Bertie is at the end of the rails. He is in his 90s and will be celebrating the 67th wedding anniversary with his loving wife on March 30 this year. At present he is physically handicapped.
“My spirit is still there to act without fear or fervor.” Bertie a competent coach, cricketer and a teacher par excellence said.
Financially poor but rich with character he was the Sports Editor of the then Observer. At present the likes of him are hard to find. He never demanded respect but commanded it. He has to be admired for teaching values more about off the field conduct unlike the present coaches who bow down to the players’ parents’ pressure.