Sporting Heroes of Yesteryear… – REID BROTHERS – The Famous Five
Source : Thomiana – May 2024
In this series, which commenced in the September 2023 edition, we aim to highlight the sporting achievements of old Thomians in the fifties and sixties era, who have migrated to the Land Down Under to call “Australia Home”; and have continued to support our alma mater through active participation in the Old Boys Associations in Australia. So far, we have highlighted the achievements of Rodney Ingleton (NSW), Maurice Fairweather (WA) and the two cousins from Victoria – Rupert Ferdinands and Denis Ferdinands. On a sad note, Denis Ferdinands passed away in January 2024 after a long illness, just a few days after the release of the January edition of the Thomiana. Fortunately, his wife Caryl had time to read the article about him to Denis to which he responded with a “Thumbs Up”. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
There have been a few instances where sets of brothers playing for their schools, clubs and with some of them going on to sport Sri Lanka caps. In this edition, we focus on five brothers who not only played 1st X1 cricket for College (Mount Lavinia), but some went on to represent the national side and excel in a range of other sports also at the national level both in Sri Lanka and Australia. The REID brothers – Claud, Ronnie (Ronald), Buddy (Barclay), Barney (Brian) and Tiny (Johann) represented College in 1st XI cricket during the period 1955 to 1968.
Cricket was the only sport which all five Reid brothers represented College. In addition to cricket, several excelled in a range of other sports, especially Table Tenis (Buddy and Barney), Athletics (Ronnie and Tiny) and Rowing (Tiny). Eldest brother Claud was the first to take up the sport of cricket, progressing from the Under 12 age group right up to the senior team which he represented for one year. All had the honour of playing at the Royal Thomian and their achievements are summarized below.
Cricket – Achievements at the Royal Thomian
• One wicketkeeper (Claud)
• Four opened the Batting (Ronnie, Buddy, Barney and Tiny)
• Royal Thomian Batting Record (Ronnie 158 n.o.)
• Royal Thomian Aggregate Record (Ronnie 325)
• 2 Stephen Memorial Batting Awards (Ronnie 1956 and 1957)
• 3 Stephen Memorial Bowling Awards (Barney 1964, 1965 and Tiny 1968)
• Two opened the Bowling (Barney 1963, 1964 1965 and Tiny 1968)
• Two opened the Batting and Bowling (Barney 1965 and Tiny 1968)
Ronnie’s score of 158 n.o. in 1956 was a Royal Thomian record which stood for 16 years until Duleep Mendis overtook it with an innings of 184.
Other Cricketing Highlights
Ronnie and Barney topped the Thomian Batting and Bowling Averages respectively for three consecutive years; with Ronnie in 1955 – 1957 and Barney in 1963 – 1965. Barney also held the Ground Record for a debut bowling performance with the figures of 8 wickets for 2 runs against St. Sebestian’s in 1962. In addition, Ronnie and Barney won the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Award in 1957 and 1965 respectively, with both representing Sri Lanka Schools team during the same years.
At the national level Claud, Ronnie, Buddy and Barney represented Sri Lanka President’s IX. Ronnie and Buddy went on to represent Sri Lanka., with Buddy subsequently being appointed the captain of the national team against the MCC in 1968/69.
Barney returned to College in 2010 to take up the position of Head Coach of the cricket team. Joining only a couple of months before the Royal Thomian, he ensured that the team, which were the underdogs, was fully geared up to meet the challenges ahead of them; and their gritty performance at the Big Match was testimony to Barney’s input.
Other Highlights
Claud: After migrating to Australia, he actively supported the OBA in Melbourne and played consecutively for 44 years in the annual OBA Royal Thomian Seniors and Open games. He received the President’s Award in 2007 for his contribution towards STC OBA cricket.
Ronnie: In addition to Cricket, Ronnie represented the College in Athletics, Basketball and Rugby. He regarded Athletics as his favourite sport and held the College ground record for 440 yards with a time of 51.0s in 1956 and won the Public Schools (Pubs) in 440 yards the same year. This was the same year that he broke the RT batting record. Leaving school, he represented NCC (Sara Trophy Champions) and Ceylon (against Madras in the Gopalan Trophy) – albeit in a career cut short due to work commitments during his heyday while based in Trincomalee and Galle. Following his migration to Australia, Ronnie, turning 40, signed off his cricketing career in style with Blackburn North Cricket Club (Melbourne, Victoria) – topping the batting aggregate and averages for two successive seasons in the local Shield grade competition – just like he did all those years ago at STC!
Buddy: He was a double international, with Table Tennis being the other sport besides cricket. In cricket, in addition to playing for College and the national side, he also played for the University of Ceylon (where he was a medical student) and BRC. His 1st XI cricketing career at College lasted only one year, as a result of successfully gaining entrance to the Medical College. In TT, he went on to captain Ceylon in several overseas tournaments, including the Asian Games in Bangkok, the Asian TT Championships in Singapore and the international in Peking, China. Following migration to Australia, he held numerous National and World Veteran Titles in Table Tennis, as well as captaining the Australian Veterans. The pinnacle was the induction to the Australian Table Tennis Hall of Fame.
Barney: “There is a young man in Ceylon, who could bat, bowl – swing, spinners or even chinaman, just what a teenage Sobers would have been” said Brian Close, the former English Test cricketer, , referring to Barney, when he went back to England, after a British Council sponsored coaching assignment in Ceylon in early 1965. During his time in school Barney also showed great promise as a Table Tennis player. He was the Captain of TT at College and represented Sri Lanka whilst still at school. He partnered with his brother, Buddy to win the National Men’s Doubles Championships; and with Srini Lucas to win the National Mixed Doubles Championship. After completing his schooling Barney migrated to Australia and continued his studies in Accountancy at Melbourne University. However, he refused to stray away from cricket and began playing for the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC). He is a professional cricket coach in Australia and continues to lend his services to various clubs in Victoria.
Johann: Tiny, being the “baby” of the family had an uphill task of matching his brothers, especially in the sporting arena. Taking advantage of his slim build and height, he too excelled in cricket and also, in athletics and rowing. Tiny won the Stephen Memorial Bowling Award in 1968; and he opened batting and bowling for College in the same year. On a sad note, Tiny passed away in August 2014 at the age of 66, after battling a long illness. During the latter years of his life, he was a Chaplain with the Salvation Army, where he completed his counselling course; and dedicated himself to helping others. An exceptional person, gone too soon!!
The cricketing careers of this famous brothers originated on the gravel paths of Harmers Lane, Wellawatte (Colombo 6); and the Table Tennis careers of Buddy and Barney began on this dining table at home and the fullsized table of Uncle Felix Rudolph next door. The College unveiled a photograph of the five brothers at the pavilion of the cricket ground during a second XI fixture of the Royal-Thomian a few years back.
Editor’s Note: our sincere thanks to Peter Schoorman, Richard Brohier and Ravi Rudra for their assistance in the preparation of this article.
