Sports

Sports

Appreciation
“PW”, Ananda will remember you
It was another time, another era – the days gone by. We still remember walking down to Punchi Borella after school and sharing my lunch packet with another while the others were having a “Those” diet at the Ananda Bhawan and then walking down to the Bloomfield Grounds at Cambell Park for our under sixteen cricket practices.

At that particular time the Ananda under-sixteen team had to practice there, for some reason or the other and not at Kityakara Place, at the Ananda/Nalanda grounds, just across the street.

There we meet the rest have a chat and start getting ready, but at times someone shouts there “sir” is on the way. Then the stern figure of P.W. Perera emerges from the beige coloured Morris Minor at one end of the ground and the boys are ready in a whistle at the other end of the ground.

He was a man of few words, always to the point and he stood no nonsense.
Just to tell the present generation as to what calibre of a man departed from our midst the other day I will relate a small story sans names.

This boy started at under fourteen as a fast bowler and at the under sixteen level was developing as a good batsman. As he was lovelingly called – “PW” wanted this boy to forget his bowling and concentrate on his batting. However that decision did not go down well with this tall lanky guy.

The next game was against Moratu Vidyalaya, at the Railway Grounds, Ratmalana. If I remember well we knew that PW was getting late for the match or else was not coming. Once we took to the field the boy called the captain and said “Give me the ball, PW is not there I will have a try with the ball”. The ball was handed over to him and soon the opponents were running for shelter and he finished with 8 for 17 or so. We won the match easily.

We were all happy and were waiting to tell this boy’s feat to the coach, but no one dared. At the end of the game PW was going through the score book, and quizzically he looked at the captain and asked “who asked so and so to bowl? Who gave him permission?”. We had never seen him so angry. The captain was severely reprimanded and the boy was dropped for the next match if I remember right. However the next season this boy opened batting for Ananda with distinction, but never bowled again.

That was the discipline that he inculcated in us. Thank you “PW”. Ananda and cricket as a whole will always remember you.

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