In my youth I wasn’t well disposed towards Thomians. This unease with the blue, black, and blue went back to a time when my father took me, as a child, to the Jayasekera home at Dehiwela. The young Jayasekeras teased me, heckled me and frightened the life out of me. To me they typified Thomians – loud, brash and with little consideration for the feelings of sensitive souls like myself. In the late fifties a Thomian “flicked” my flag at the Oval. They couldn’t get any lower and intimidating.
However, in 1965, things got personal. I made one mistake in giving David Ponniah out LBW in the under 16 Royal Thomian played at Mt Lavinia. From then onwards in that game, every time I lifted my finger, even to give Dijen de Saram, stuck well out of his wicket like a German tank caught in the Russian bog, out, I was booed. I feared for my life and swore I would never return to this hostile environment.
Later that year, at the Oval, where the MCC team was playing Ceylon, I spotted Prabhoda Kariyawasam, the Thomian under-16 captain, pointing me out to an associate. He was no doubt alluding to my “hora” umpiring earlier in the year. I wanted to confront him, but his broad shoulders and height made me decide that discretion was the better part of valour.
My off field perception of Thomians was reinforced by their performances on the field. With the exception of 1960, until 1968, STC usually won the toss and batted first, with Royal under pressure from then on. I perceived Royal as the underdogs and the Thomians as those who showed us little mercy.
They had ferocious bowlers who were large and intimidating. Royal’s cricketers were, by contrast stylish and embodied an innocence which the Thomians lacked. They even thwarted us when we were at our strongest, in 1962, and then went onto humble us in 1964. Our stocks were so low that saving, just saving, the 1965 became the moral equivalent of victory. It was frustrating to be a Royal supporter between 1962 and 1965 when a draw was the best that could be hoped for.
And just when I thought that that Royal could turn the tables, a man called Ajit Jayasekera restored the status quo. Yes, he came from that same horrible Jayasekera stock who intimidated me as a child, and which also produced an opening bat who took cockiness to new heights in 1966.
As most people know, Ajit batted with ruthless abandon in both innings of the ’67 Royal-Thomian. Ajit appeared to be contemptuous of every convention associated with sensible batting. And this man also had the gall to be “capping” our beloved Ruperty’s daughter. Was there no end to this man’s effrontery?
When Ajit was in full flight there was nowhere to hide. As the Thomians piled on the runs I was scared that a high catch would come my way. I was spared this ordeal but let a ball through my legs in front of the Mustang tent. As I sheepishly stood my ground my cousin Brian collected the ball from the boundary and on his way past me stated explicitly that I had to pick up my misfields from thereon. To add insult to injury an old Thomian, Ellings Ellawela, known to my father, offered me a chair. I held the Thomians responsible for my misery and the humiliations to come. My dislike of them now knew no bounds. The scary thing was that I had to survive two future Royal Thomians with Ajit around. Big matches were supposed to be fun. Now I wondered what I had let myself into.
After the 1967 Royal Thomian, however, I met Ajit and other members of the Thomian team, many of whom were members of the “jeer” squad of 1965. And much to my surprise they were very nice and accommodating. It was no different to Buddy Holly meeting Elvis for the first time and realising how normal the latter was. Ajit was modest and unassuming. He wasn’t subhuman. He no doubt bled like everyone else.
For the first time, I felt privileged to associate with Thomians. They were so warm and witty. They sang with gusto. They were such warm personalities. And I came to associate them with the ditties they sang. So, Ajit became Rollicking Bill and Dijen became Sir Jasper. Of course the danger in beginning to like those you once loathed is that you risk losing your rage and hunger for triumph.
Following the 1967 Royal-Thomian I rode my Rudge bike to wherever Ajit was playing in the hope of cottoning on to some of his batting secrets. It did seem strange that a Royalist was hero worshipping a Thomian. People advised me that Ajit was unorthodox. But I was willing to dismay the purists to be able to tonk like Ajit.
Ajit loomed large in Royal’s thinking between 67 and 69. In 1968 Royal captain Ranjit Gunasekera applied the screws on Ajit with the same sort of urgency that the Thomians approached Darrell Lieversz in 1962. Just before taking the field for the second Thomian innings in 1969, assistant coach Channa Gunasekara took me aside and urged me to go on the defensive without hesitation if things got out of control. At the back of his thinking was no doubt the possibility of AJ breaking loose and duplicating his 1967 efforts.
From 1968 our fortunes irrevocably turned. But this didn’t diminish the new found respect I had for the Thomians off the field. And on the field I saw a new and laudable side to the Thomians – gallantry in adversity.
History is written by the winners, and the achievements of the Thomian players of 1968 to 1969 are underestimated. In addition to Jayasekere and Hameed; Kariyawasam, Wijesooriya and de Saram produced innings’ of character. De Saram, along with Kariyawasam enabled STC to avert the follow on in 1968, and would have been the match saving hero of 1969 if not for a miraculous catch. Kariyawasam’s 37 in 1969 was a gem of an innings, initially breaking up an attacking field and then proceeding to penetrate a defensive field with effortless ease. Wijesooriya played two immaculately crafted knocks in the same game.
Finally, with only three top line bowlers, including himself, Kariyawasam made the strong Royal batting line up struggle for runs through judicious bowling changes and tight field settings. If he had a second decent fast bowler at his disposal Royal’s late rally may have been thwarted. For that matter, if Wijeratne had bowled with a total behind him, history may well have been different. He only played in two games in 1969 and his form declined from thereon. Hence, very few people realise that he had a late in-swinger that would have made Darrell Lieversz proud.
An American soldier observing German prisoners taken at the Falaise pocket in 1944 shuddered at the damage they could have caused under different circumstances. I felt the same about my Thomian opponents.
Well that sums up the warm feelings I have towards Thomians. They define our identity as Royalists. To me they are crazy and lovable bunch of characters. I also admire the camaraderie that exists amongst them that endures long after they have left school.
I was indeed touched by a remark Ajit made to me and then repeated to Prabhodha on the occasion of his retirement not so long ago. I was explaining to Ajit how he could have killed us off in the first innings of the 1969 game. He was going great guns and the Royal bowling held no fears for him. Rather than try to loft every ball to the boundary he would have been better off rotating the strike and putting us under pressure. In brief, I accused him of not playing sensibly and throwing away an opportunity to have us on the ropes. Rather than argue with me he replied in poignant manner – “My biggest regret in life is that I let down the best friend I ever had”. In other words, he rued the hurt he caused his captain by not fulfilling the expectations his team had of him. I am privileged to have played against men of such nobility, sensitivity, and decency.
With time Royalists and Thomians submerge their rivalries and celebrate the funny side of the Royal-Thomian encounter Prabhoda Kariyawasam fondly recalls an incident at his home which involved my father driving his stately Rover into a ditch in the process of leaving for home after visiting Mr Kariyawasam. My father laid the blame squarely on “This bloody Royal-Thomian”, and while neighbors toiled to get the car out he cheerfully had another drink with his host. This incident characterises the true spirit of the Royal-Thomian which is bigger than the individual.
Eardley Lieversz
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