Lloyd Paternott was a fine left arm leg spinner – BY Dilwin Mendis

Prince of Wales’ College First Eleven Cricket Pool 1966/67  / Seated L/R – Omar Jayasekera, Ajith Mendis, Lloyd Paternott (Captain), Leslie de Silva, Ray Fernando / Back Row Standing L/R – Keith Fernando, Ananda Sumathiratne, Mohan Jayathilake, Lucky Samaranayake, Gamini Manamperi, Nimal Fernando, Geethal Fonseka / Seated on the ground L/R – Lalin Bharathi, Upali Wickramasekera, (Picture by Dilwin Mendis – Moratuwa Sports Special Correspondent)

Source:DailyNews

Fourth year coloursman, left hand bat, left arm leg spinner, Combined Services Cricketer and one of the Best Fieldsmen produced by Prince of Wales’ College, Moratuwa Lloyd Paternott captained his Alma Mater in 1967.

Lloyd was the first and only cricketer from the Burgher community to captain Prince of Wales’ College since the inauguration of organized cricket at Prince of Wales’ in 1896. Though he had a liking to attend under 12 cricket practices his parents never allowed him to attend practices but their sole ambition was to give their elder son a sound education. But his forte was cricket and he played softball cricket with his neighbouuring friends for the Kuduwamulla Soft Ball Cricket Club. During this period softball clubs were very popular in Moratuwa.

One of his class mates Cambrian and later Moratuwa Sports Club, Colts Cricket Club and Mercantile Cricket Association cricketer Srinath Silva who was the captain of Gunawardene House requested Lloyd to join the House Team in the under 14 inter-house cricket tournament and he played in the tournament and in the finals he claimed 8 wickets for 2 runs and the then Prefect of Games K. W. Dharmapala asked him to attend under 14 cricket practices. During this period the College played three to four friendly games with other schools and he was a unanimous choice to open the attack. Later he played for the under 16 team.

When he was playing in the under 16 team the then Senior Cricket Coach Nisal Senaratne noticing his talents selected him to the first eleven team in 1963 under Vernon de Mel. Then the coach advised him to bowl left arm leg spin and he was among the wickets. Since 1964 he was a regular member of the first eleven cricket team and he captained in 1966/67 cricket season and played in four Big Matches against their arch rivals St. Sebastian’s College.

His best figures were 8 for 50 versus Zahira College. Through out his cricket career he captured several wickets and in 1967 when the Indian Combined Schools Cricket Team toured the then Ceylon he played for the team which was played at De Soysa Park (presently De Soysa Stadium), Moratuwa.

The Indian Team was captained by Kailash Chathshan and others were Ramesh Parker, Amaranath Brothers Mohinder and Surinder Eknath Solkar to mention a few. Lloyd clean bowled Mohider Amaranath with his first ball and claimed 5 for 32 runs and then when the England combined Schools Cricket Team toured Ceylon he played for the Combined Schools Cricket Team under Thomian Sriyantha Rajapakse.

Whilst at school he represented Moratuwa Sports Club in the Daily news Trophy Tournament and after leaving school he joined the then Royal Ceylon Air Force and he walked in to the team with ease and played under Mohamed Faleel. Later he came under Leslie Rathnapulli, Nihal Gurusinghe, Cyril Ernest up to 1974.

In 1969 when the Air Force Cricket Team made their first ever tour to Gan Islands Lloyd was a member of the team. Since 1974 upto 1980 he played for the Division Two Donovan Andree Cricket Tournament and his first captain was ever green V. N. S. Fernando.

He was a regular member of the Logistics Branch in the Inter Unit Cricket Tournaments and he captained the team too. He was a very fine fielder in the out field and his throws were like spraying bullets.

After leaving Air Force he joined Negombo Cricket Club and played in the Donovan Andree Tournament prior to take up an appointment in the Oman Defence Force as a Store Keeper.

When playing for Oman Defence he met a former Wing Commander Walpita and he requested him to join the Oman Air Force and he played till 1997 for the team. The team consisted mostly Britishers and he was a regular member of the Royal Oman Air Force too. He went on to captain the team and performed well.

In the mean time his wife expired and he had to come back to his motherland and it was the end of his cricket career.

When asked about the Best Cricketer during his school career it was Leslie de Silva and in the Air Force the Best Batsman was Norbert Fernando who is a player who cannot be dislodged easily.

In the club level he mentioned the names of Michael Tissera and Ranjith Fernando as the best batsmen and among the bowlers were Daya Sahabandu, Tony Opatha, T. B. Kehelgamuwa and Anuruddha Polonowita and he further added that the two Best All Rounders during his period in the Air Force were Sarath Fernando and Dilwin Mendis.