CI Gunasekera
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Tuesday 16th February, 2010 15 C. I. Gunasekera – A living legend by Revata S. Silva Keith Miller and Neil Harvey. The another 71. well known Sir Don was caught by One great highlight of C. I. ‘CI’ is from a different era alto- de Kretser off Russell Heyn for 20. Gunasekera’s near two-decade gether. This is true in many ways. career was when he played for the He is a jewel of a person who Commonwealth XI, representing is far apart from many players Ceylon. His team-mates in that you would find in the present era. match included some all-time ‘CI’, according to many cricket greats like Graeme Hole, Neil enthusiasts of yesteryear - the Harvey and the late flamboyant pre-Test era of the country, was Keith Miller. one of the hardest hitters of the How CI joined Miller to tear cricket ball. Those who flocked to apart the strong MCC bowling watch any ‘international’ cricket attack is still an oft talked about encounter of the then Ceylon, subject among older cricket fans. played most of the time at the P. CI had beaten Miller in the race to Sara or the Oval - the main hub of cricket then, were witness to the scenes of crowds moving their cars away from the stadium when our protagonist CI was going into bat. They’d feared the towering sixes struck by the tall, burly right-hander would shatter their windscreens. The elegant six-footer, an epit- ome of what was known as the Gentlemen’s Game of post- C. I. Gunasekera Independence Ceylon for over two The match was called off due to decades, was a cut above the rest rain after tea when Ceylon, under of a lot of other national players Mahadevan Sathasivam, were 46 during his time. There are only a for two. CI was not able to bat. few who have passed the test of CI’s break into the centre stage time so successfully to still linger was when Ceylon hosted Claude The house at Dickman’s Road, Colombo-04, where C. I. Gunasekera, lives. (Pix by Dimuthu Premaratne) in the local cricket psyche; that Goddard’s Windies for a three- too with a touch of fascination. dayer, played from Feb 19-21, 1949. was based in the upcountry clay ness in argument and a touch of Look at the number of matches courts. CI too, like his uncle, bluntness in his worldview espe- these cricketers play these days. became champion of the country cially when he becomes philo- * Some people say Sanath CI – Career Data and represented Ceylon at the sophical about the future of this Jayasuriya falls into the same cat- highest level, becoming a double country and its people. egory of CI (as a hard hitting bats- Conroy Ievers Gunasekera went on to play for the Ceylon international which is a rare and “I remember every significant man). I don’t agree. He is very (born July 14, 1920) was a Sri team and captained it. During commendable feat. incident that took place in this much better than me. Lankan first-class cricketer his time, playing for Sri Lanka, “I remember every significant incident country during the entire 20th * A short while after the start prior to his country being grant- Gunasekera had many remark- that took place in this country during the About CI’s present life century”, he says. of the match (in 1948, between ed Test status. able knocks including a double entire 20th century”, says CI, aged 89, an CI will celebrate his 90th birth- A candid conversationalist and Ceylon and the Aussies), Sir Don Gunasekera was educated at hundred against Pakistan. He epitome of the gentleman’s game of post- day next July 14. He lives a lonely a graceful personality, CI is a liv- Royal College, Colombo, where also represented the discovered the pitch (at the Oval) Independence Ceylon. life at his residence at No.85, Dr. ing example of the classy, tradi- being used was about two yards he played in the Royal-Thomian Commonwealth XI, scoring a Lester James Peries Mawatha (for- tional and highly enlightening encounter, starting from 1938. To hundred in the match England the 100-run mark, hammering a short. It was immediately meas- six over mid-off to reach the mile- merly Dickman’s Road) at All-Ceylon cricketer of post- ured with a tape. Sir Don was start a legal career, he joined the vs. Commonwealth, batting Bambalapitiya. His life has Independence Sri Lanka. He rep- stone. proved absolutely correct. Colombo Law College in 1940. alongside Australian great Keith become an extremely forlorn resents a very different breed of However, he left it before com- Miller. Up till the 1980s, he affair after the passing away of cricketers who are truly apart * We should immediately form pleting his legal studies to join played for SSC. A cricketing family a separate govt. department or a Cricket was something heredi- his beloved wife Doreen, a few when one observes the transfor- the Ceylon Defence Force as a Gunasekera joined Walker & years ago. mation our cricket has undergone ministry for Birth Control. As a Second Lieutenant during World Sons Limited as a manager and tary to CI, whose uncle was none senior citizen of this country, I’ve other than Dr. C. H. (Churchill His ancient house still stands for over the last decades. War II. went on to serve as a director. noticed the speed at which our Hector) Gunasekera, a Cambridge as a symbol of life and times of Some Quotes He started playing cricket for His uncle was Dr. Churchill CI’s haydays. But his garden lawn * I think the best All-Ceylon population grows. There were the Sinhalese Sports Club under Gunasekera, a former Ceylon scholar and a national champion in lawn tennis who played cricket does not now post a row of vin- batsman during our time was F. C. hardly any people travelling on the captaincy of Fredrick C. de Cricket Captain. tage cars which CI used to collect de Saram. He had a great reper- this road (Dickman’s Road) when I Saram. Thereafter, Gunasekera (Source: Internet) for Middlesex before leading All Ceylon with a brilliant record. sometime ago. There is hardly any toire of strokes. (Mahadevan) was young. Just look what’s hap- Debut CI’s cousins, Channa Gunasekera cricket talk heard either, amongst Sathasivam too was a great bats- pening now! CI’s debut for All Ceylon was CI, striking 72 in 95 minutes in the - CH’s son, W. Louis Mendis, L. D. his companions, these days in the man. He was an extremely gifted in a one-day match played against second innings of the match, S. Gunasekera and V.J. Harry small parlour by the house’s long one. But the only thing is he was a Note: Sir Don Bradman’s Australia, marked the beginning of what Gunasekera all played for Ceylon. verandah. Though now being a bit reckless. Special thanks for arrang- played on March 27, 1948. The could be rated now as a true crick- The Gunasekera family has an somewhat sluggish person who is * I don’t know why they con- ing the interview to Sri Lanka’s ‘Invincibles’, as the Aussies were eting legend. In the next match, affinity with Ceylonese tennis, approaching his nineties, CI is not sider me as a good batsman. I one-man cheer squad and CI’s known then, featured Sid Barnes, played from Feb. 26-28, he hit then known as lawn tennis, which short, maybe, a wee bit of astute- played only a very few matches. good friend, Percy Abeysekera. Under-19 Cricket Standings Nalanda advance to top position by Reemus Fernando After seven outings, Nalanda Meanwhile, Thurstan, Trinity have collected 108.54 points and St. Joseph’s continued to against second placed Isipatana, Nalanda College advanced to remain at the top of the points the top position of the points table who have completed their tourna- in Group ‘D’ of the on going Inter ment matches with 103.95 points. table in their respective groups. School Under-19 Division I tourna- Nalanda have scored four outright This points table is projected ment as they enjoyed success in victories in the tournament and by ‘The Island’ and is not the offi- the tournament matches played have a chance of further bettering cial points table of the Sri Lanka over the course of the last week. their points with one match to go Schools Cricket Association. in the tournament. The points table of the Inter School Under-19 Division I tournament as at Sunday 14th February 2010. Group ‘A’ School MP WO LO WF LF ND RS WT Points Thurstan 820411243796109.37 Ananda 720320197210595.97 Royal 710411170310592.28 Mahinda 61012211168257.66 St. Anthony’s 50023017846650.34 Maliyadeva 51112013006850.00 Wesley 51300013176948.42 Dharmaraja 60101315354641.85 Zahira 70303118066838.06 Group ‘B’ School MP WO LO WF LF ND RS WT Points Trinity 7402101978125119.03 Dharmasoka 7303102174101110.99 Horses at the starting gate for the ‘Independence Cup’ (Pic. by Jayakody Ratnayake, N’Eliya Correspondent) Richmond 72130120059699.05 Revata 63300016318274.81 Holy Cross61311016257757.50 Debutante ‘Red Key Point’ upsets ‘Sulanga’ Maris Stella 51012113127556.87 ‘Red Key Point’ representing Ironically, ‘Sulanga’ led the race Mohanraj. St.Aloysius’60213013928643.42 the Jayaratne stables defeated from the start but could not sus- In the remaining 5 races, Kingswood50122010835540.58 St. Anne’s 70403012598233.09 defending ‘Independence Cup’ tain her pace to survive a late Dassanayake stables managed to Group ‘C’ holder ‘Sulanga’ in a well con- charge by ‘Red Key Point’, who bag three wins, which included School MP WO LO WF LF ND RS WT Points tested race of 7 furlongs for hors- won the race by half a length.