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Ernest C Kelaart: The Smiling Executioner An ideal story to be heralded by my version of Defying Gravity that I recorded with Waylon Jennings, many moons ago. Also, I am very proud to say that THIS smiling Executioner Ernie Kelaart served in the Royal Ceylon Navy with me, and everything they say about him is so true. There was nothing it seems, in sports, that Ernie wasn’t a Champion at. He was also a Champion guy,, loved and respected by everyone who knew him. ...

Feb 14, 2022 Posted by In Articles, DESMOND KELLY Tagged ,
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A MAN I CALLED MY HERO – Some of Ranjit’s memoirs and his hero Ben Navaratne Life in Kotahena was a great joy, and during the cricket season every bare patch of ground that could accommodate a game of softball cricket in the area, was occupied by hundreds of young players of all ages and sizes. My love for the game thrived in that vibrant sporting environment. There was no supervision and we managed our own little test matches working our way through, in the best way we could. Before long, around the age of 12 or 13, I was playing hard ball cricket and started representing my school at the under 14 age group and making some progress as a batsman in the top order, however except for my rather defensive technique which I had developed on my own, there wasn’t much to show. Then things started to happen ...

Mar 14, 2021 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , ,
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Benedict Navaratne – the Prince of Wicket Keeprs – Zahira College & SSC – by Alston Mahadevan   Source: Alston Mahadevan FB  Ben Navaratne was the prince of wicket keepers. Benedict Navaratne (9 Jan 1915 – 9 June 1979) played for Zahira College before joining SSC. He made his international debut for Ceylon in 1940 when he was selected to tour India under the leadership of Sargo Jayawickrama. He made an unbeaten 23 on debut in the ‘unofficial’ Test match against India played at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay from 31 December 1940. He was also selected to play against India in the three-day unofficial Test at the newly constructed Colombo Oval on 31 March, 1 and 2 April 1945. Navaratne like many young talented cricketers including Sathasivam and Bertie Wijesinha had very limited opportunities to play against Test playing nations for nearly 10 years due to the Second World ...

Feb 14, 2021 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , , ,
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TRIBUTE TO MY DAD BEN – by Lakshman Navaratne    “His Brilliance is my Confidence.” The world around us have ample information about the cricketing career of my Dad. True Brilliance, a tiny shine (light) in him is the life of my dad that impacted his offspring. The Blood of my parents are still alive in the 8 children living his Legacy. The last few years of his life on earth, he was questioning his own faith he inherited from his parents. He was inflicted with a sickness; statistics show: only 1 in 4 million humans are inflicted with this dreadful decease. In 1979, six months before he passed away, I had returned to see my Dad who was living on Blood transfusions for the last four years. His common phrase was “How the mighty has Fallen”.  In 1960, I was barely 13, my Dad was a Mighty Force, his ...

Dec 31, 2020 Posted by In Articles Tagged ,
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Bertie Wijesinha cricketer, commentator and coach par excellence – Hafiz Marikar Source:Daily News Kandy remembers one-of the top class cricketers Bertie Wijesinha who breathed his last at the age of 96 in 2017. His name was a household name in Sri Lanka whether it was as a cricketer, coach, writer or commentator; he was versatile in every field. He was the son of former Trinity cricketer Alexander Wijesinghe Bertie has he was popularly known played for S. Thomas’ College Mt Lavinia from 1936-1939 and in that period distinguished himself as an outstanding all-round cricketer. Later he moved to SSC to display his skills and then represented his country from the late 1940s.   ...

Aug 5, 2020 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , , , , , , , , Comments 0
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