Michael Tissera: A Lifetime of Grounded Achievement-by Krishantha Prasad Cooray Source:Thuppahis Krishantha Prasad Cooray, in The Island,  7 April 2024, where the title runs thus: “Michael Tissera at 85: Gentlemen’s gentleman” ….. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi   Michael Tissera with his children and grandchildren When people who have the same first name meet up, there’s name-related humour. The more, the merrier, obviously, especially if they are good friends and enjoy friendly banter. Today I am thinking of three people who share the name Michael: Michael Tissera, Michael Sproule and Michael De Zoysa, all three who played cricket for St Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia. The first of course is the bigger name associated with the gentleman’s game. Today I remember these three gentlemen sending everyone into fits of laughter as they talked among themselves, each referring to the others by name. It went something along the following lines: ‘Yes Michael, as I was ...

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ACM LAFIR BIDS FAREWELL – by AFZAL LAPHIR Antonian legend ACM Lafir passed away peacefully yesterday in Colombo. He was 86. “Verily we belong to God, and verily to Him do we return”. The name ACM Lafir is synonymous with Antonian cricket and has remained so through many generations. His record-breaking innings of 176 against Trinity and the opening partnership of 266 with Ronnie Steven have achieved legendary status in our history. Let us now reminisce about his cricketing career at college and how he burst into the national scene as a schoolboy. Lafir made his first XI debut for St Anthony’s College (Kandy) in 1950 under Stanley Jayasinghe at the age of 14 and made an immediate impression by scoring 321 runs in 13 innings with a top score of 82 against Ananda. Other notable knocks include 65 vs Trinity, 41 vs Zahira and 38 vs St Joseph’s. He ...

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Hale and hearty Stanley J 91-By Harischandra Gunaratna Source:Island Former All Ceylon, Leicestershire, NCC, Nomads and Nalanda College cricketer Stanley Jayasinghe on Wednesday celebrated his 91st birthday at a simple ceremony at his Thalapathpitiya residence. The Nonagenarian, full of vigour with a razor sharp memory shared some of the memorable incidents in the cricketing arena of yesteryear with those who came to wish him and amongst them were many cricket enthusiasts including Jayasinghe’s sister Mrs. Nalini Rattan who had flown all the way from British Columbia. One of his ardent fans from India, Dr.Uma Bose sang an inspirational and a devotional song for the birthday boy. ...

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Cricket legend Stanley Jayasinghe felicitated Source:Sundayobserver One of Sri Lanka’s most iconic cricketers of the pre-Test era Stanley Jayasinghe was yesterday felicitated by the Old Nalandians Sports Club that comprise old boys of Nalanda College at the school’s Malalasekera Hall. At a time when the quality of school cricket was at a high level, Jayasinghe now age 90, booked his place in the National side as a batsman while still being a schoolboy in 1950 for a tour of Pakistan where he scored a century. ...

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