“There is a good audience How do you tell someone for traditional dance in they are dying? ”

Wednesday 26th January, 2011

bution to the game was duly recognized. But he was also treated shabbily at times by some of the administrators. Yet, his resilience in the face of adversity has brought him thus far and the wisdom gained is sure worth the roller-coaster ride. The Island: “What advice can you give our team prior to the World Cup?’ Roy: “Don’t get carried away by what the media has to say. Whilst it bolsters the spirits, it adds a tad more pressure for the cricketers and their performance might be affected due to it. Go it game by game. Relax and be proud of the fact that you are representing a wonderful country. The Island: “What about the selection of the team?” Roy: “A selector’s job is never easy, but for variations sake it would have been good to include a left-arm pace- man like Chanaka Welagedara. If Sanatha Jayasuriya and were in the initial pool of 30, they should have been included in the 15 man squad. The Island: “Your thoughts about the new ?” Roy: “Kumar is a real gentleman and educated to boot, so I feel that he is aware of what it takes to keep a balanced side.” .’ Yours truly has come across several folks who The Dias family from L- often rant about the salary of cricketers so we had R: Dilindri, Roy, to query him on it and his answer shed new light; Tharanga and Rishitha. “ is a sport which requires a great level of dedication, similar to many other sports and one has to prove oneself during a short period; The longest one could play for a national side would be 10 -15 years and that too fluctuates and within that time span the sacrifices made by the players are boundless; They live out of suitcases, miss family functions, time spent with family, their hectic schedules revolve around practices, games etc. Especially now, there is a great degree of stardom involved, but it all comes at a price. I feel that they richly deserve it.” The name Roy Dias is synonymous with SL cricket but this man of silent strength is also a voracious reader and movie fan. An introvert by nature, he prefers to spend time with his precious family; his children son Rishitha and daughter Dilindri, who he claims are nothing short of GREAT and his wife Tharanga (whom he consid- ers his tower of strength, confidante and personal advisor). Despite various setbacks during his cricketing career, Roy remains undaunted in spirit, striving ahead in his coaching which primarily started in order to give something back to the game. The Island: “What advice can you give aspir- ing cricketers of today?” Roy: “Be committed to the sport and practice the 3Ds which are dedication, determination and discipline and I personally consider the latter the most important factor. In addition, one has to be willing to take advice, listen, watch and learn. Although his rugby career died a natural Finally and most importantly, be death, his cricketing pursuits blossomed to simple, despite being in the by Rochelle Palipane Gunaratne IN RETROSPECT fruition and there was no stopping this hot limelight and always be Pix by Nihal Chandrakumara blooded youngster who initially played for mindful of your past. Colts, captaining the side for two consec- These are words of Roy refers to the Zimbabwe tour of utive years and then SSC, which is a wisdom by a true alk of legends in the field of cricket and the the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team in 1989 as story in itself; “those days it was con- ‘Gentleman’ of name Roy Dias immediately crops up; his sidered a prestige to play for clubs the game of one of the most memorable tours cricket whose Tbrilliance with the bat during SL’s early like SSC and CCC and in one game I days, after attaining Test status, his name was syn- due the very fact that the team itself scored 140 runs whilst playing for resilience and simplicity have onymous with Sri Lanka cricket. was united. He recalls an incident Colts and my name was not highlight- Although he had bid adieu to Nepal after a span ed but an SSC player who scored 40 brought in its of 10 years as coach of their national team, when the players were sponsored runs was given recognition. So my wake respect ‘Gentleman’ Roy continues to bestow his knowl- by the SL community in Zimbabwe employer at the time, Robert that is hard to edge of the game to many, including the Tamil Senanayake, who was also the earn in any Union. to visit Victoria Falls and Kapila Chairman of the Cricket Board men- sport. He was born on 18th October 1952 to Richard Wijegunawardene was unable to tioned this fact and coaxed me to join and Joyce Mildred Dias. walk due to an injury, but the others SSC. Q: ‘Was it avid interest in the game or family In 1982, when we gained Test status, urging which got you started in cricket?’ were willing to carry him. I got paradoxical results which His alma mater St. Peter’s College is solely He was one of the two foreigners were the highest (77 – inclu- responsible for the choice he made in sport as Roy to receive Nepal’s highest award by sive of three four fours off explains; Ian Botham) and the “It was neither, as my father, uncle and cousins the King of Nepal for his contribu- lowest score, which were football fanatics and I chose to play cricket tion to to Nepali cricket. was a duck, in the purely because SPC did not have soccer. Under the first innings! His coaching of Carl Obeysekera, I played for the U-12, His time spent in Nepal was relentless batting 14, 16 and the First XI teams, captaining the school excellent and he refers to the play- made him a firm in 71 and 72. As my father was employed at ers as his family and prior to his favourite Hongkong and Shanghai Bank I was privy to sever- amongst the al matches played by bank employees, which gar- return, the National Sports cricketing afi- nered further interest. Journalists Forum of Nepal had cionados and In the process of relating his initial foray into given him a touching farewell. He his rise to fame cricket, Roy related a most amusing tale about his was inevitable. passion for another sport, which sadly or not, had had also been the only foreigner to His invaluable to be quelled due to a serious injury; rugby !!!! receive two prestigious awards “I was playing rugby for the college team and it had to be kept a secret from my parents, especially from the that organization. my mother, but it all came to light during a match He admires a host of cricketers against Royal College in which I was standoff and amongst, them former captain RC were leading 19/ 7. There were formidable play- ers such as C. P. P. Abeygunawardane and Kumar for his strength Bastianpillai, but for my strange luck I got the ball and for his stand during Muttiah during the last few minutes, saw the biggies descending on me, got tackled and then scored a Muralitharan’s period of trial and try. This resulting in a newspaper headline; ‘Dias , Thilanga cuts through the last minute!’ which dropped the Sumathipala, Jayantha Dharmadasa cat right out of the bag. When I met my father the next day, he asked me there was another Roy Dias for their support in developing at SPC and I said, ‘no.’ His next question was; ‘are cricket in Nepal. you the same Roy Dias who plays rugby and scored a try against Royal? versus SPC game and he had to be rushed to the I answered honestly and his advice was; “con- accident services. To him the toughest task apart tinue but refrain from telling your mother!” from his injury was facing his mother and he did Destiny had other plans for Roy who had a seri- so by requesting Fr. Christi Abeyratne to gently ous collarbone injury two days prior to the Trinity break the news to his mother. Roy Dias talks to contri- ‘The Island’