14 Saturday 16th April, 2011

Jayasinghe, A. Maheswaran, R. Nagalingam, H. P. Senanayake, H. B. Kumarasinghe and Prof. M. H. F. Jayasuriya. The club’s present president is Herbert (Herby) Stanley Jayasuriya, a prominent sportsman who studied at both Carey College, and Kingswood College, . He served in the Police Department from 1960 to 1998 and retired as a Senior Superintendent of Police, a rank he held for eight years. He was a one time Deputy Director of the CID. A controversy In 1993, the Dehiwala–Mt. Lavinia Municipality wanted to acquire the club premises. The club was taken over by the Municipality in 1993 under Mayor Susil Jayasinghe and the club committee had to exist without the club premises for three years, up to 1996. In 1996, the premises was given back to the DMCSC committee, head- ed by Prof. M. H. F. Jayasuriya. Some well-known tennis clubs that An image from the past: The Dehiwala–Mt. Lavinia Cosmopolitan SC committee of 1972 with the then Mayor of the Dehiwala–Mt. Lavinia Municipal Council, existed in the outskirts of Colombo Andrew Fernando. and in the outstations alongside DMCSC are: Aviation Club, Ratmalana, Tennis Club, Carlton Tennis Club - , Sports Club, Dickoya/Maskeliya Cricket Club, Services Club, Govt. Servants’ Lawn Dehiwala-Mt. Lavinia Cosmos, a tennis Tennis Club, Govt. Servants’ Tennis Club, Govt. Surveyors’ Sports Club, Hill Club, , Lawn Tennis Club, Kalutara Town Club, Kandana Club, Kandawela Sports Club, Kandy Garden Club, K.C.Y.M.A. Tennis Club, hub on the fringes of Colombo Sports Club, Tennis Club, Recreational Club, Panadura BY REVATA S. SILVA Dehiwala–Mount Lavinia Municipal Sports Club, Sabaragamuwa Sports Club – Council. , Thebuwana Tennis Club and The Dehiwala–Mount Lavinia “… The original club house was a cad- YMCA Club, Mt. Lavinia. jan hut and during the past 7 1/2 decades, Cosmopolitan Sports Club (DMCSC), situ- Epilogue the members have contributed generously ated at Frazer Avenue, Dehiwala is now The DMCSC is of great service to the and built our club house at various stages. 82 years old. Situated beside the coastal community in Dehiwla and Mt. Lavinia. The present building is a tribute especially railway, close to the Wellawatta Canal The phenomenon of the public tennis club, to our past members.” – H. S. and the serene beach of the Indian which provides tennis playing and coach- Jayasuriya, President, DMCSC. Ocean, the club and its two clay tennis ing facilities for kids as well as adults at an courts can speak of a story of long last- Former well-known members/play- affordable prize, has been a dying one dur- ing perseverance and the grit of a tennis ers of DMCSC ing the past few years. Therefore, the club that survived all vicious forces to D. D. N. Selvadurai, former interna- authorities which time and time again try pass the test of time, with utmost superi- tional player, and his brother Timorthy to acquire the club premises, hindering its ority. Selvadurai, tennis coach and official K. day-today activities have to be more con- Origins Subramaniam and his son Suresh siderate about the need of a such valuable The club was established in 1929. Subramaniam, former five-time sports institution. It is always easy these The club and the two adjoining clay President of the Tennis days to use public property for a highly tennis courts were built on a land donat- Association (SLTA), Gen. Secretary, profitable endeavour. But to make use of ed by Mudliyar Moonasinghe. Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) and pres- such property for a worthwhile social, The place is at Frazer Avenue, ent National Selection Committee charitable cause is always a challenging Dehiwala, beside the Municipal Council Chairman, Maxwell de Silva, present task. The Cosmos’ history and its present Library. The land Mudliyar Moonasinghe President, SLTA and Irshard Othman, existence is a reflection of that truth. former Davis Cup Tournament Director. donation includes the area where we can The club president SSP (retd.) Herbert Jayasuriya, 2nd from right, with Mrs. Sources: now find the small Frazer Avenue Major achievements Sunethra Ranasinghe, 3-L, the then Mayoress of the Dehiwala–Mt. Lavinia 1. 75th Anniversary Souvenir of the Playground. Mudliyar Moonasinghe’s Has participated in Division-I of the Municipal Council, at the 75th anniversary celebrations of the DMCSC held at Dehiwala-Mt.Lavinia Cosmopolitan Sports grandson, Daljith Moonasinghe was a Annual All-Island Inter-Club Tennis Hotel Taj Samudra, Colombo on Oct. 26, 2004. Club (1929-2004). member of the DMCSC too. Tournament for several years and con- 2. A Policeman Remembers – Memoirs The club has gained its present name ducts one of the oldest Open Ranking (Pix reproduced by Dharmasena Welipitiya) of Herbert Jayasuriya (Retired Senior after it was amalgamated with the Tennis Tournaments in the country, the Superintendent of Police), 1999. Cosmopolitan Club in Wellawatte. Dehiwala- Mt. Lavinia Cosmopolitan 1970s. Now it is an SLTA ‘B’ Grade event Former Presidents 3. Special thanks to Clement Fernando, The DMCSC has been on a lease, that Open Ranking Tournament, which com- and is one of the most popular events for Major L. V.Goonaratne, Martin Gen. Secretary, DMCSP, and its Vice is renewed annually, with the menced during the early part of the up-and-coming tennis players. Atapattu, Francis Amerasinghe, W. W. President, S. Markandoo.

CHUNCHEON, South Korea (AP)—Golf hasn’t lost its luster for Tiger Woods. Golf has If Sri Lanka is to win the The 14-time major champion gave lessons Thursday to South Korean junior golfers in the city of taught me World Cup in Australia… Chuncheon and spoke of how much the sport still means to him. Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya Woods says it has “been a big a lot about played in the 1996 World Cup matches, especial- part of my life. It’s taught me a lot ly in the semi-final and the final. We also need about life” as he has “been playing a blowing department to suit any surface in the game since I was basically 1 life, says every country. Our bowlers should be trained to year old.” enjoy any pitch where they should try to He says “it’s been just some- exploit the conditions with their capabilities. thing pretty exciting to be able to Tiger Out batters should be trained to bat at any compete and play, now profession- number, whether it is number one, seven and 11 ally, all over the world. It’s a dream come true.” U.S. golfer Tiger Woods greets stu- and so on. dents during a talk show with In the 2011 final, M. S. Dhoni promoted him- After finishing tied for fourth self up the order knowing Yuvraj Singh may at the Masters on Sunday in a Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, not in the struggle under pressure. return to form after having photo, at the Beijing Sports remodeled his swing, Woods then In 1992, Imran Khan came into bat at num- University in Beijing, China, visited China to promote the sport ber three in the final between Pakistan and and his sponsors before arriving Wednesday, April 13, 2011. England. If Shahid Afridi had batted at number in South Korea. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) three in their run chase against India in the semi-final in 2011, his batters would have ral- lied around him to win the match for Pakistan. We also must have a surprise package to upset the opponents on a particular day. The captain should be given a free hand to select his own team and be the decision maker. In the 1996 final in Lahore, Arjuna Ranatunga made a decision after speaking to the senior players to Ding-Dong bat second after winning the toss. Before the match, Imran Khan had advised the captain winning the toss to bat first. In the previous finals, before 1996, the sides that batted first had won the matches. It was Arjuna’s team Battle Arjuna Ranatunga which changed that by electing to bat second and won the cup. It is said that Ranatunga had Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996 and gone to the Gaddafi Stadium in the evening of Portland Trail were runners-up in 2007 and 2011. Therefore, we the day prior to the final to inspect the ground. Blazers’ Armon must be very thankful to our cricketers. There, he had discovered that the team bowling Johnson, right, Now Sri Lanka has become a cricketing second would struggle as there was heavy dew giant, as our players perform exceptionally on the ground as the evening progressed. That falls over Golden well. was when he and his team decided to bat sec- State Warriors’ Jeff ond if they won the toss. In 1996, the team led by Arjuna Ranatunga Adrien (4) during with his deputy Aravinda de Silva brought us If you watch that match again, you could see fame, glory and happiness by how the Aussies struggled in the second half of bringing the World Cup home. For bowling and fielding in wet con- an NBA basketball us, it was a fairy tale, well organ- Letter dition. The bottom-line is, the ised. The captain was perfect as captain and the team should be game Wednesday, well as lucky. Everyone was behind him to offer free to make their own decisions, April 13, 2011, in their hundred percent. So far, history tells us whatever happens. Oakland, Calif. that Arjuna Ranatunga is the best cricket cap- Injured players or half fit players should not tain that Sri Lanka has ever produced. Arjuna be tried in important matches at any cost. (AP Photo/Ben deserves it. He had his principles. He never Otherwise, the team will have to pay the price. Margot) appeared in advertisements, which would mis- The other factor is that the whole country lead the innocent public. He was only hungry should not be made over enthusiastic about for making his country the best in cricket. He winning matches, because it puts a lot of pres- always stood for his players as well as his prin- sure on the captain as well as his players. ciples. He was never afraid to call a spade a Cricket should not be politicised as we need spade. Even his critics now respect him. We all the citizens of this country to pray for the remember the days how he singlehandedly won team on the particular day when they play a matches for us. I believe to win a World Cup very important match. I think in 1996, we all again, we need a captain of Arjuna’s calibre to prayed for the Sri Lankan team, when Arjuna marshal the team. Ranatunga had asked us to do so before the I also believe that the whole team should be final. consisted of batting all-rounders as well as Sudesh Wijenayaka, bowling all-rounders. Remember the roles Pohoddaramulla.