The Ceylonese Legend who captained three nations!
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Sathasivam (R) and Bradman walk out to toss
The modern generation may not have heard of Mahadevan Sathasivam (1915-1977), generally referred to as ‘Satha’, and certainly not watched this mercurial batsman in action. He is considered by most of the older brigade as the best-ever batsman Ceylon/Sri Lanka produced. He captained three nations, Ceylon, Malaysia and Singapore!
In the two decades ending 1960, he lit the nation with his electrifying batsmanship–both here and in parts of India. Gamini Goonesena said: “During my time I have played with or seen the best batsmen in the world, and I rate Satha as the best of them all.” Stanley Jayasinghe, commented: “I can recall a masterly 96 runs ‘Satha’ scored out of a total of 153, when Ceylon struggled against a visiting Commonwealth team on a rain-affected pitch at the Colombo Oval in February 1950. The bowling attack comprised Australians George Tribe and Fred Freer, George Pope (England), and Frank Worrell (West Indies). Little wonder, Worrell referred to ‘Satha’ as “the best batsman he had seen.” The second highest scorer was schoolboy Stanley Jayasinghe (17), batting at No.9. He described his own innings as all from the edge of his bat, while ‘Satha’s innings was “all from the middle of the blade. I was simply hypnotized watching him from the other end.”
Of course, those were tributes by players, not writers. It was not easy to pay adequate tribute to a batsman of this calibre. ‘Satha’ was the ultimate Musketeer of cricket. He “cut, glanced and drove, upright and lissome. His cricket was of felicity and no power, giving joy to the connoisseur.” I saw him make a 3-figure score at the NCC grounds, in a Quadrangular game again a Mercantile XI, and like Stanley, I was transfixed. His batting was music.
Oldtimers still wax lyrical about the batting of ‘Satha’. It was all about the panache of a man who used to prance down the pitch to spinners and pacemen alike and dismiss the ball from his regal presence, even after a bout of debauchery the previous night. All the stories about him that still abound him are true!
The writer too, once had the privilege of playing against him in a ‘friendly’ fixture at the Oval in March 1957. Remember ‘Satha’, then aged 42 years. The Royal College team was having a midweek ‘practice’ game against Tamil Union, in preparation for the forthcoming Royal-Thomian encounter. ‘Satha’ walked into bat wearing a silk shirt fluttering in the wind, with a cap worn rakishly, slightly askew, a white hanky knotted round his neck and his bat held between right arm and chest. I was hoping my skipper would not want me to bowl at this apparition! However, this time, Patrick Poulier, our medium paceman, had to bell the cat.
“Looks an old man Pat, why don’t you try him with a bumper first-up” I suggested. ‘Satha’, batting from the tennis court end took guard, and Pat obliged. ‘Satha’ casually deposited the ball onto the roof of the pavilion. He then called Pat and asked his name. “Poulier, Sir”.
“Are you anybody of Hilton Poulier?” “He is my father, Sir” beamed Pat. Hilton Poulier was also an opening bowler who played for Ceylon under Dr. C.H. Gunasekera. “Your father would have told you not to pitch the ball on your half of the wicket. You must pitch the ball so that the batsman has to hurry his stroke and force him to error”.
As Pat was getting back to his mark, the writer whispered: “Pat, that was a fluke, give him another.” In came Pat, bounding with all the exuberance of youth, and hurled yet another bumper. ‘Satha’, was on his back foot, muttering: “I told you………” and the ball was last seen soaring over the pavilion!” I was next seen patrolling the outfield!
Famous Indian, Test off-spinner Ghulam Ahmed (1922-1998), who played in the decade ending 1958, unequivocally declared: “The best batsman I’ve bowled to is Sathasivam from Ceylon”. Remember, Ahmed had bowled to the likes of the three W’s, Hutton, Compton, Sobers, Kanhai, Neil Harvey………et al. Obviously, Ahmed must have recalled the dashing double century ‘Satha’ made when the Ceylon Cricket Association XI met the South India XI in February 1947, and scored a magical 215 runs in 248 minutes – a ground record at that time. The bowling attack comprised three bowlers of Test level. And thereby hangs a tale. The Manager of the Ceylon team wagered that, if ‘Satha’ made a double hundred, he would be sent on a week’s holiday to Bombay. The Manager did fulfill his promise! Lack of space prevents the writer from describing further memories pertaining to this legend.
The Tamil Union has paid tribute to Satha’s memory by naming a part of the pavilion in his name with the notation “The bat was a magic wand in his hands.” Perhaps the older members of the Club may remember who made a written suggestion in this regard. Indeed this was the first occasion any Club paid tribute to a player in this manner. Later, Bloomfield and SSC followed this practice.