RIP RICHARD HEYN
by: Upali Obeyesekere – Editor, JPNN Int’l
image source:-quadrangle.lk
News has reached us that former Peterite cricketer and hockey player RICHARD HEYN passed away in the U.S. this morning (April 3rd). May the turf lie lightly over Richard as we mourn his passing.
Richard was the older son of former Army Commander and All-Ceylon cricketer B.R. Heyn and Mrs. Heyn. Brother of former Peterite legend DAVID HEYN, Richard had his baptism to cricket at his alma mater St. Peter’s College Colombo in 1959, under the captaincy of another legendary Peterite cricketer Brian Seneviratne. Richard represented SPC in 1960, 1961, and captained college in 1962. Richard looked every bit a cricketer – tall and lanky. Besides cricket, Richard also captained SPC in Hockey.
Those of us who lived through college life in the early sixties, may recall some big names in school cricket playing for St. Peter’s. See the teams below in batting order:
1960 – Mark de Silva, Randy Layman, Richard Alles, Premasiri Athukorale (Capt), Adiel Anghie, Richard Heyn, Maurice Deckker, Anton Perera, Didacus de Almeida, Elmo Gunasekara, Tyrone Le Mercier.
1961 – Richard Alles, Sam Rajah, Adiel Anghie (Capt), Richard Heyn, David Heyn, Tissa Jayaweera, Tyrone Le Mercier, Maurice Deckker, Didacus de Almeida, Travice Fernando, Rohan Abeysundera.
1962 – Adithiya de Silva, Ravi Fernando, Tissa Jayaweera, Richard Heyn (Capt), David Heyn, Tyrone Le Mercier, Maurice Deckker, Frank Bowen, Clifford Bartlett, Rohan Abeysundera, and Travice Fernando. (Photo enclosed).
Editor’s Note: Richard’s demise was notified by David Heyn in an e-mail. Richard played club cricket and hockey after leaving school. He migrated to Australia first and then to the U.S. where he lived for many decades. The Heyn brothers (Richard & David) were both honoured sports stars at St. Peter’s College.
