Birthday gift for Bertie who turned 92 by SLC
View(s):It was a pleasant surprise for the ailing past cricketing stalwart Bertie Wijesinghe who celebrated his 92nd birthday yesterday.
In a first class career that spanned from 1946 to 1957, Bertie turned out for the country on fifteen occasions had a highest score of 57 and best bowling analysis of 5 for 57 with his right arm medium pace bowling.
He was among the fourteen cricketers who were identified by Sri Lanka Cricket to get a grant of Rs. 300,000/- mainly towards their medical expenses.
An SLC official who is also a former national cricketer who did not want to be identified was the prime mover of this project – which the SLC did for the second occasion.
He said “These cricketers played the game just for the passion. It was an era that a national cricketer was paid Rs.15 per day for representing the country. Yet, there was a lot of pride in them when they donned the blazer with the national crest.” He also added that it was appropriate for the present cricket officials to remember the services rendered by these cricketers who built the initial road for the present day on field heroes.
The list of cricketers who will receive the grant are – Bertie Wijesinghe, Stanley Jayasinghe, H.I.K. Fernando, Daya Sahabandu, Russel Hamer, Amitha de Costa, Gulam Razik, Muttaiah Devraj, T.B. Kehelgamuwa, D.P. de Silva, A.C.M. Lafir, Stanley de Alwis, Lasantha Rodrigo and Nihal Kodituwakku.