Galle Cricket Club
Encyclopedia
Galle Cricket Club is a first-class cricket
team based in Galle
, Sri Lanka
. They play their home games at Galle International Stadium
, which was reconstructed after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another cricketing champion of Galle
by Rohan Wijeyaratna
Just a couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of writing a piece on the late Mr. E. M. Karunaratne of Galle. The story of cricket in that lovely old place does not quite end there. There are a few others who have hailed from Galle worthy of headlines in a cricketing sense. Being by nature not given to trumpeting about themselves, few have heard of them in these ‘enlightened’ times. In a country where history is rewritten - albeit not too accurately, and in fact downright deplorably in some aspects - this is to be expected. Great many things in this place need to be recorded in their proper perspective and cricket is perhaps one such.
Just as the name E.M.K. is inseparable from Galle C.C., there is another name that needs to be resurfaced and spoken about. It has been snowed under by many other names in recent times and it is a fair bet to assume that the same fate that befell E.M.K. has befallen this man too. The only redeeming feature is that the gentleman concerned is still around and so, if proof is needed it is still available. This is important when dealing with fellows hell bent on re-writing history just the way they please.
First from the South to play for this country
Douglas Dias- Jayasinha was the first man from the Southern Province to play for All Ceylon. That statement must be evaluated not just in its literal sense. The socio-economic implications at the times were such that in the 1930’s, Southern Province had hardly a look in. It is a small wonder that it was even recognized as a cricket playing region of this country. The only reason perhaps it merited such recognition was because it was impossible to ignore the deeds of some men from that part of the country like E. M. Karunaratne and Douglas Jayasinha.
Jayasinha hailed from Mahinda College, Galle. He captained the school at cricket and tennis from 1934 to ’36, and in-between also played soccer for his school. The only reason he didn’t play any more sport was simply because there weren’t any more to be played! He was therefore in the thick of things when it came to sport in his time - a naturally gifted ball player without question, and a very good one at that. He made seven centuries for his school during those three years he captained and was chosen to play for the Combined Colleges against the University in the then traditional end-of-school- season match as a mark of recognition of his outstanding capabilities. He didn’t disappoint; opening the batting and top scoring with 61 runs in the match.
All-Ceylon vs New Zealand - 1937
Turning out for Galle Cricket Club just after leaving school, D.D.Jayasinha hit three consecutive centuries against the Colts, the BRC and the SSC in three successive weeks in the 1937 season. Another unbeaten century against Panadura and a 55 against the NCC made it impossible for him to be overlooked for selection for All Ceylon against the visiting New Zealanders in October 1937. And so he played, as the first man ever from the Southern Province to don the All-Ceylon cap.
In that match, All-Ceylon made 227 for 8 wickets with Derrick de Saram top scoring with a typical brick by brick innings of 90. Jayasinha who was an opening batsman was held back by S. Saravanamuttu the skipper, who felt it was too much of a gamble to risk sending the young man in, that early. He was a free scoring batsman at the time and since there was overnight rain on the SCC grounds they wanted a more sedate start than what Jayasinha promised. This they got through George Hubert and Louis Mendis. Eventually Jayasinha made his way to the wicket at the fall of the fifth wicket and made a patient yet uncharacteristic 24 runs in 45 minutes to help Derrick de Saram at the other end towards his mammoth individual score. In reply, New Zealand made 177 for 5 wickets with Vivien 68 not out and Walter Hadlee, father of Richard, himself making 18. That team also consisted of such well known names as Martin Donnelly and Mervyn Wallace, all of whom had done so well in England just a few weeks before.
Comfortably up there with the best
Just a couple of years before that, in 1935, when still a schoolboy at Mahinda College, Jayasinha opened batting for Ceylon with the legendary M. K. Albert against the ‘Indian Occasionals’. The visiting team included the likes of Vijay Merchant, Mushtaq Ali, Wazir Ali, Banerjee et al. At the time he was an opening bat of great repute, and was up there with the best in the business - M. K. Albert, Chippy Gunasekera, W. L. Mendis, John Pulle, Robert Fernando and Robert Senanayake to name but a few. Never more than a tiny wisp of a man, he was adept at the nudge and placement, and the use of the pace of the delivery to put the ball where he wished particularly on the leg side as most left-handers are vont to do. A searing square cut was notable amongst all the other strokes that made him such a fine batsman in an all round sense. He was a very good judge of a run, and was never happier than when stealing them, much to the chagrin of the fielding side. During the best years of his playing life, he opened batting and also sometimes - the bowling, using no more than a few paces but giving almost nothing away. He was a crafty customer with either bat or ball and it was said that he used his head as much as his skill in equal proportions.
After the outing against the Kiwis, there were no more national caps for Jayasinha but he played for Ceylonese vs Sir Julian Cahn’s XI in 1938; and represented CCA XI against All India in 1945 in Galle when he top scored for the home team in both innings. There were many other purple patches in a cricket career that spanned over a quarter of a century, including a brilliant 95 not out before lunch against Colts and a hat-trick against Moors in 1942. He played for the SSC from 1937 till 1950, which says a lot for the calibre of the man’s cricket. The SSC at the time was virtually the All-Ceylon side itself and contained many a ‘giant’ about whom people still talk with much awe.
A champion for all time
Jayasinha continued his active paying days till the 1960’s, captaining Moratuwa Sports Club between 1958 and 1961, when he piloted that team to third place in the Sara Trophy championship of 1961. Again a tremendous feat considering the fact that the SSC and the NCC creamed off the best cricketers in the island at all times, leaving BRC and Colts the next best to be shared with Tamil Union, Moors, Malays, Moratuwa and so on. Between 1963 and 1973 Douglas Jayasinha served as the chairman of the selectors, with others of the likes of Bobby Schoorman, Chandra Shaffter and K. M. T. Perera as co-selectors. It was during that period that this country registered its very first ‘unofficial Test’ victories over both India and Pakistan when Michael Tissera was captaining the side.
At 86, Douglas Jayasinha leads a quiet, retiring style of life having given of his best for his old school, to the many clubs he played for, and to the country as player and selector. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that when the history of sport in the Southern Province comes to be written in its full one day, Douglas Jayasinha will be featured as prominently as would ‘EMK,’ and a host of other champions of the open air, who have done that region proud.
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
team based in Galle
Galle
Galle is a city situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo. Galle is the capital city of Southern Province of Sri Lanka and it lies in Galle District....
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. They play their home games at Galle International Stadium
Galle International Stadium
Galle International Stadium is a cricket stadium in Galle, Sri Lanka, situated near the Galle fort and fringed on two sides by the Indian Ocean. It is considered to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world...
, which was reconstructed after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Notable players
Sports--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another cricketing champion of Galle
by Rohan Wijeyaratna
Just a couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of writing a piece on the late Mr. E. M. Karunaratne of Galle. The story of cricket in that lovely old place does not quite end there. There are a few others who have hailed from Galle worthy of headlines in a cricketing sense. Being by nature not given to trumpeting about themselves, few have heard of them in these ‘enlightened’ times. In a country where history is rewritten - albeit not too accurately, and in fact downright deplorably in some aspects - this is to be expected. Great many things in this place need to be recorded in their proper perspective and cricket is perhaps one such.
Just as the name E.M.K. is inseparable from Galle C.C., there is another name that needs to be resurfaced and spoken about. It has been snowed under by many other names in recent times and it is a fair bet to assume that the same fate that befell E.M.K. has befallen this man too. The only redeeming feature is that the gentleman concerned is still around and so, if proof is needed it is still available. This is important when dealing with fellows hell bent on re-writing history just the way they please.
First from the South to play for this country
Douglas Dias- Jayasinha was the first man from the Southern Province to play for All Ceylon. That statement must be evaluated not just in its literal sense. The socio-economic implications at the times were such that in the 1930’s, Southern Province had hardly a look in. It is a small wonder that it was even recognized as a cricket playing region of this country. The only reason perhaps it merited such recognition was because it was impossible to ignore the deeds of some men from that part of the country like E. M. Karunaratne and Douglas Jayasinha.
Jayasinha hailed from Mahinda College, Galle. He captained the school at cricket and tennis from 1934 to ’36, and in-between also played soccer for his school. The only reason he didn’t play any more sport was simply because there weren’t any more to be played! He was therefore in the thick of things when it came to sport in his time - a naturally gifted ball player without question, and a very good one at that. He made seven centuries for his school during those three years he captained and was chosen to play for the Combined Colleges against the University in the then traditional end-of-school- season match as a mark of recognition of his outstanding capabilities. He didn’t disappoint; opening the batting and top scoring with 61 runs in the match.
All-Ceylon vs New Zealand - 1937
Turning out for Galle Cricket Club just after leaving school, D.D.Jayasinha hit three consecutive centuries against the Colts, the BRC and the SSC in three successive weeks in the 1937 season. Another unbeaten century against Panadura and a 55 against the NCC made it impossible for him to be overlooked for selection for All Ceylon against the visiting New Zealanders in October 1937. And so he played, as the first man ever from the Southern Province to don the All-Ceylon cap.
In that match, All-Ceylon made 227 for 8 wickets with Derrick de Saram top scoring with a typical brick by brick innings of 90. Jayasinha who was an opening batsman was held back by S. Saravanamuttu the skipper, who felt it was too much of a gamble to risk sending the young man in, that early. He was a free scoring batsman at the time and since there was overnight rain on the SCC grounds they wanted a more sedate start than what Jayasinha promised. This they got through George Hubert and Louis Mendis. Eventually Jayasinha made his way to the wicket at the fall of the fifth wicket and made a patient yet uncharacteristic 24 runs in 45 minutes to help Derrick de Saram at the other end towards his mammoth individual score. In reply, New Zealand made 177 for 5 wickets with Vivien 68 not out and Walter Hadlee, father of Richard, himself making 18. That team also consisted of such well known names as Martin Donnelly and Mervyn Wallace, all of whom had done so well in England just a few weeks before.
Comfortably up there with the best
Just a couple of years before that, in 1935, when still a schoolboy at Mahinda College, Jayasinha opened batting for Ceylon with the legendary M. K. Albert against the ‘Indian Occasionals’. The visiting team included the likes of Vijay Merchant, Mushtaq Ali, Wazir Ali, Banerjee et al. At the time he was an opening bat of great repute, and was up there with the best in the business - M. K. Albert, Chippy Gunasekera, W. L. Mendis, John Pulle, Robert Fernando and Robert Senanayake to name but a few. Never more than a tiny wisp of a man, he was adept at the nudge and placement, and the use of the pace of the delivery to put the ball where he wished particularly on the leg side as most left-handers are vont to do. A searing square cut was notable amongst all the other strokes that made him such a fine batsman in an all round sense. He was a very good judge of a run, and was never happier than when stealing them, much to the chagrin of the fielding side. During the best years of his playing life, he opened batting and also sometimes - the bowling, using no more than a few paces but giving almost nothing away. He was a crafty customer with either bat or ball and it was said that he used his head as much as his skill in equal proportions.
After the outing against the Kiwis, there were no more national caps for Jayasinha but he played for Ceylonese vs Sir Julian Cahn’s XI in 1938; and represented CCA XI against All India in 1945 in Galle when he top scored for the home team in both innings. There were many other purple patches in a cricket career that spanned over a quarter of a century, including a brilliant 95 not out before lunch against Colts and a hat-trick against Moors in 1942. He played for the SSC from 1937 till 1950, which says a lot for the calibre of the man’s cricket. The SSC at the time was virtually the All-Ceylon side itself and contained many a ‘giant’ about whom people still talk with much awe.
A champion for all time
Jayasinha continued his active paying days till the 1960’s, captaining Moratuwa Sports Club between 1958 and 1961, when he piloted that team to third place in the Sara Trophy championship of 1961. Again a tremendous feat considering the fact that the SSC and the NCC creamed off the best cricketers in the island at all times, leaving BRC and Colts the next best to be shared with Tamil Union, Moors, Malays, Moratuwa and so on. Between 1963 and 1973 Douglas Jayasinha served as the chairman of the selectors, with others of the likes of Bobby Schoorman, Chandra Shaffter and K. M. T. Perera as co-selectors. It was during that period that this country registered its very first ‘unofficial Test’ victories over both India and Pakistan when Michael Tissera was captaining the side.
At 86, Douglas Jayasinha leads a quiet, retiring style of life having given of his best for his old school, to the many clubs he played for, and to the country as player and selector. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that when the history of sport in the Southern Province comes to be written in its full one day, Douglas Jayasinha will be featured as prominently as would ‘EMK,’ and a host of other champions of the open air, who have done that region proud.
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Partnership Records
- 1st - 104 HSS Fonseka & CM Withanage
- 2nd - 102 S Kodituwakku & TKD Sudarshana
- 3rd - 169* CM Withanage & WMPN Wanasinghe
- 4th - 183 S Kodituwakku & DD Wickramasinghe
- 5th - 149 HSS Fonseka & DD Wickramasinghe
- 6th - 110 CRP Galappathy & CM Bandara
- 7th - 174 MKPB Kularatne & KMDN Kulasekara
- 8th - 154 DD Wickramasinghe & LHD Dilhara
- 9th - 101 MMDPV Perera & MKPB Kularatne
- 10th - 87 DD Wickramasinghe & KG Perera