JOSEPHIAN-PETERITE CRICKET 1957 – By: Upali Obeyesekere
St. Peter’s College had a blockbuster cricket team in 1957 – By: Upali Obeyesekere – Josephian-Peterite NEWS NETWORK
Jayantha Fernando led St. Peter’s in 1957 while Kirthie Caldera captained the Josephian team. Both teams were armed with terrific pair of opening bowlers – Anton Perera/Anton Paulpillai for St. Peter’s and Peter Liyanage/Ranjith Malawana for St. Joseph’s.
RESULT: Match Drawn
SJC – 298 (Kirthie Caldera, 99, Carlyle Perera, 77, Tissa de Soysa 24, Emilton Fernando, 53). Bowling: Anton Perera 3/69, Russel Duckworth 3/41
SPC – 192 (Premasiri Athukorale, 85, Nihal Wijesena 24) Bowling: Ranjith Malawana 8/57 and 246 all out (Darrel D’ Silva, 59, Jayantha Fernando, 81, Premasiri Athukorale, 52.
David Muthumani and Nihal Wijesena were the regular openers while fiery Darrel D’ Silva coming in at No.3. I still remember how Darrel lifted the opening attacks of many a school right over the scoreboard and into the Wellawatta Canal. Skipper Jayantha Fernando and Brian Seneviratne were Nos.4 & 5 followed by Russel Duckworth, burly Lakshman Serasinghe, Premasiri Athukorale, Christie Marthalingam (wicket-keeper), Anton Paul Pillai and Anton Perera.
Anton was consdidered the fastest bowler in school cricket in the late 50s. The Peterites had a terrific opening attack with Anton Perera and Anton Paulpillai sharing the new ball. Lakshman Serasinghe too bowled medium pace and was quite effective with the new ball.
The Joe-Pete Big Match in 1957 was a high-scoring game that ended in a tame draw. This was the year that Kirthie Caldera, Wicket-Keeper skipper of the Joes was unfortunate to get out at 99 runs thus been deprived of a well deserved century.
Josephian opener Ranjit Malawana (SJC) bagged 8 wickets for 57 runs in the Peterite 1st innings. Priya Perera took 4 for 73 in the Peterite 2nd innings. For the Peterites, fresher Anton Perera 3 for 69 and Russel Duckworth 3 for 41 were the pick of the bowlers.
1957 was the year that saw the baptism of two great Peterite cricketers. One was young Anton Perera who turned out to be one of the fastest schoolboy bowlers at the time. Anton and his wife Marlene (SPC Primary teacher) emigrated to Los Angeles in 1961 and Anton passed away due to complicated medical issues a few years back. Anton is a cousin of Peterite skipper Travice Fernando and his brothers Lyn, Imbre and Mervyn. The second star was Premasiri Athukorale another phenomenon batsman at the time. A naturally talented batsman, Athu had a terrific run at the 1957 and 1958 big matches knocking up 85, 52 and 89 respectively. His late cut was a delight to watch.
TEAMS
St. Peter’s College XI – Jayantha Fernando (Captain), Lakshman Serasinghe (Vice Captain), Darrel De Silva, David Muthumani, Nihal Wijesena, Anton Paulpillai, Brian Seneviratne, Anton Perera, Premasiri Athukorale, Christie Marthalingam, Russell Duckworth, Nihal Ranasinghe, Mitchell Rabot, Roy Dissanayake, Saifu Davoodbhoy, Randy Layman, Noel Lutersz.
St. Joseph’s College XI – Kirthie Caldera (Captain), Claude Perera, Priya Perera, Zacky Mohamed, Tissa de Soysa, Carlysle Perera, Emilton Fernando, N. Jayawardena, Malcolm Berman, Peter Liyanage, Ranjith Malawana.
Update of the 1957 team:
Anton Paul Pillai lives in Pennsylvania in the U.S., Randy Layman, Mitchell Rabot are domiciled in Australia. Christie Marthalingam lives in Calgary, Alberta in Canada. Russel Duckworth lives in U.K.
Jayantha Fernando, Lakshman Serasinghe, Darrel D’ Silva, Nihal Wijesena, Brian Seneviratne, Premasiri Athukorale, are no longer with us and their demise is recorded in Sri Lanka and Australia. David Muthumani and Roy Dissanayake passed away in Toronto, Canada. Anton Perera passed away in San Fernando Valley, California.
