Oldest living Cricket Captain of Ananda College
At the age of a ripe 86, Bobby Wickramasinghe is the oldest living cricket captain of Ananda.
I visited him at his residence in Malabe by prior appointment. He welcomed me very warmly and we had lunch together.
His beloved wife Manel passed away in 1999 after a brief illness. She was a daughter of Mrs. Thelma, Amarasekera, a former Principal of Bishop’s College Colombo.
Since his wife’s death, Bobby has been cared for by a loyal house keeper who attends to all his personal needs and takes good care of him as he is unable to walk properly due to an ankle injury which he sustained some years ago.
Bobby joined Ananda, from Nalanda Vidyalaya in 1944, at the age of fifteen (15) and was admitted to form (II) (standard 07). From the beginning he participated enthusiastically in inter house athletics and became school champion. He represented Ananda at Public Schools Athletic Meets, his events being the Discuss, Shot Putt, triple jump, long jump and 220 yards hurdles.
Bobby was equally good at cricket. He first played for Ananda in 1947 as an opening bowler. Later he opened the batting as well. As an athlete he had developed the physical attributes required for pace bowling in addition to being a six footer. In that year Bobby was recognized as one of the most accurate pace bowlers in the school cricket circuit.
Bobby played a key role in the Ananda team of 1947, taking vital wickets as well as scoring runs. His performances as an all-rounder were recognised by his coach (Mr. M.A. Jayasinghe) and the Prefect of Games (Mr. L.S. Lecamwasam) who without hesitation selected Bobby as captain of the Ananda team in 1948. The coaches were Messrs M.A. Jayasinghe a former Ananda cricketer and Peterpillai, an old Josephian. At the time there were two foreign coaches in Ceylon to coach talented cricketers from the schools viz Learie Constantine from the West Indies and Badcock from Australia.
During the 1948 season, Ananda played against Prince of Wales, St. Thomas, Mt. Lavinia, St. Peters Bambalapitiya, St. Anthony’s and Dharmaraja Kandy and Mahinda College, Galle. The big match against Nalanda was played at the Colombo Oval and Bobby recalls that an entrance fee of one Rupee was charged from spectators.
Bobby, in addition to being captain, opened the bowling as well as batting. His opening bowling partner was Bonnie Wijesinghe while his batting partner was Tissa Vitharana, former Minister. The other members of the team included Cyril Fernando, Stanley Peiris, Neil Kulatunga, Chandra de Soysa, Harrison de Silva, Raja Panditharathne, Colvin Premaratne and D.U. Molligoda. A rare an unforgettable incident is his school career as captain was the hat-trick he took against Dharmaraja in Kandy. In recognition as one of the best bowlers in the schools, he was selected to play for the combined schools against the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC). The SSC team was led by F.C. de Saram and included other members such as Sago Jayawickrama, Fairley Dalpathado, and Ben Navaratne who represented Ceylon.
Bobby won college colours for Athletics and Cricket and continued to play for Ananda in 1949 and 1950, performing magnificently as an aggressive bowler and hard hitting batsman.
During Mr. M.A. Jayasinghe period as coach, Ananda produced several versatile cricketers such as P.W. Perera, P.G. Ranatunge, E.W. Balasuriya, B.R. Fernando and Togo Sugathadasa to name a few. As a team, Ananda was very formidable.
On leaving school in December 1950, Bobby joined Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club and was a member of the team made up of cricketers from various school to play against other clubs. He was a member of Bloomfield for about twenty (20) years.
Bobby joined the Department of Prisons as a Middle Management Officer, in 1953 and served in almost every prison camp in the island. In 1956 as the Chief Officer of the Open Prison Camp at Kundasale, he was privileged to welcome Sri Lanka’s first Governor General Sir Oliver Goonetilleke and then Prime Minister, Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike when they visited the camp. In 1976, Bobby followed a course in Crime Prevention at the U.N. Asia and Far East Institute, in Tokyo, Japan, on a scholarship. He represented Sri Lanka in 1988 at the Tenth session of the committee on Crime Prevention and Control held in Vienna.
Bobby retired from the Department of Prisons after nearly thirty seven (37) years of service, as a senior Deputy Commissioner.
He is the second in a family of three brothers and four sisters, children of Muhandiram Don Thomas WIckramasinghe and Mrs. Dona Wickramasinghe. He has two sons, Damith and Kishan, both champion tennis players and six grand children.
Bobby missed his life’s partner from her death nearly sixteen years ago. Unfortunately most of his important documents, such as certificates, photographs, souvenirs etc have been lost. The only photograph he gave me to publish with this article was one taken when he was abroad in 1986.
In conclusion, The Old Boys Association (OBA) of Ananda College and affiliated groups are requested to felicitate and honour the oldest living sportsmen, Coaches, Prefect of Games and Master in Charges for the devoted service rendered to sport at Ananda.Thank you Bobby for all that you have done for alma mater and wish you all the best in your life.