Remembering those good old playing days

The advent of the Bradby affords a good opportunity to go down memory lane, to talk to some of the stars who glittered in their era. The Sunday Times spoke to a few of them and asked them what they remembered of the Bradby they played in.

Izwan Omar (1967-1969): Played his first two seasons under a Trinity legend Ajith Abeyratne. Trinity won the two legs hands down (17-3 and 16-3) in 1967. But the next year was different. They were unbeaten until the Bradby having thrashed all the schools they met. The coach, the late Bertie Dias, shifted the full back Shafi Jainudeen to the line and the upshot of it all was that Royal triumphed 19-0 and 5-3. That Royal team had many well-known personalities – Malik Samarawickrema (scrum half) Doctors Maiya Gunasekera and Fred Preira (locks) and the present Attorney General CR “Billa” de Silva (prop).

Izwan recalls the 1969 game in Colombo as a close game in which he saved Trinity’s bacon. Speedy Brian Lieversz started a run along the tough line from his twenty five. Izwan tackled him into touch close to the line in Trinity’s twenty five. That act of heroism turned him his lion-the only one awarded in 1969.

Mohan Samarakoon (1968-1969): He makes the pertinent point that most players of his era had rugby in them and the coach had only to add the finishing touches to tighten up the loose ends. Mohan also draws attention to the fact that Bradby margins in the past were very small. However, today we find huge margins of victory. Every school had a role model and emulating him was very much the norm. Mohan recalls that both teams had lunch together in the Trinity dining hall and, after the match, partook of a sumptuous spread at the residence of Dr. Karunaratne, an ardent old Royalist.

Ananda Wickremasinghe (1981): He is still rueful about the fact that an injured shoulder kept him out of the 1980 games. Trinity lost the second leg but won overall in 1981. In the first match which Trinity won 16-3 what was noteworthy was the fact that all three tries were scored by Anandas – winger Wickremasinghe, the other winger Nihal Ananda Gunawardena and Ananda Bulathsinhala who had come over from Royal. The Trinity full back was Ravi Ponnambalam who distinguished himself not only at school but later on at Havelocks, too. The Adihetty brothers Dilip and Pradeep were his team-mates, while Royal also had a pair of brothers – Sujeeva and Srian Cooray.

Ananda also excelled in Athletics, captaining the Sri Lanka schools team in India and winning silver in the 400 and 800 metre events.

Pradeep Basnayake (1994-1995): Had mixed fortunes in his Bradbies. In 1994, Trinity lost the first leg and drew the second. In 1995, his team won a close first leg but then ran all over Royal in the second (22-6) under the leadership of Haris Omar. What Pradeep remembers in particular was the massive crowd that thronged Bogambara for the second game in 1994. It was the 50th encounter. Besides Omar, Trinity also had Suranga Amerasinghe and Rangika Ranasinghe – two stand out players. In Royals’ ranks was the seemingly ever green Asanga Rodrigo. As for Trinity’s chances this time, he feels they are good. “Any Trinity team approaches game in a different manner”