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Queen Elizabeth in Ceylon in 1954 in Pictures-by Michael Roberts The Mayor of Kandy, Mr. E.L. Senanayake escorting the Queen through the College premises (College car park at present) Source:Thuppahis The Queen and Prince Philip visited the island of Ceylon in 1954 and participated in striking ceremonies in Colombo, Kandy and Peradeniya University. The Senate Building at Peradeniya University was formally ‘consecrated’; and the Queen also visited the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens. The Queen also visited the famous Trinity College with the Mayor of Kandy (EL Senanayake) as Aide of Honour. Here she honoured and was honoured by the Trinity cadet corps …. a set of actions that reminds us of the “Empire loyalism” that had prompted a number of Westernised Sri Lankans to enlist in the British armed forces during World War I as well as World War II (a topic recently documented** in the new illustrated book edited by ...

Sep 20, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , , ,
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Lord Soulbury, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Peradeniya University-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis This striking and rare photograph from 20th April 1954 shows Lord Soulbury leading the young Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on their way to inaugurate the formal opening of the University of Peradeniya at its “Senate Building” — whereupon Prince Philip displayed acumen in deploying the original words –“more open than usual” when verbally administering the opening. What apt words!       This Pix has been sent to me by Gerald Peiris. While the royal duo are clearly the stars of this outstanding moment in the island’s history, I prefer, here, to highlight the importance of two British gentlemen in Sri Lanka’s coming of age: namely, Lord Soulbury and Sir Ivor Jennings.  I conjecture that Jennings is hidden from view in this picture. It would have been the clout he wielded with Soulbury and the DS Senanayake ...

Sep 20, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , ,
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For Australia: Sri Lanka’s Cricket Squad for T20 World Cup-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis The Island, 17 September 2022, where the title reads “Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara in Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup squad, subject to fitness” Sri Lanka have shown faith with the group of players that won the Asia Cup, with the inclusions of fast bowlers Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara – who missed that tournament due to injury – the only change, as they named their 15-man squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. From the squad that toured the UAE, batters Dinesh Chandimal, Ashen Bandara and Nuwanidu Fernando, and left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama have been listed as standby players alongside left-arm quick Binura Fernando. This means Matheesha Pathirana, Asitha Fernando and Nuwan Thushara miss out. The inclusions of Chameera and Kumara, however, are subject to them being passed fit. Kumara is recovering from a ...

Sep 19, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , , , ,
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Amputation Surgery from 24,000 Years Back !!! –by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis ONE: Sara Hussein: “Missing foot kicks surgery back thousands of years,” in The Australian, 7 September 2022 A skeleton with a missing foot discovered in a remote corner of Borneo rewrites the history of ancient medicine and proves amputation surgery was successfully carried out about 31,000 years ago. Previously, the earliest known amputation involved a 7000-year-old skeleton found in France, and experts believed such operations only emerged in settled agricultural societies. Scientists excavating remains dating back some 31,000 years in the Liang Tebo cave in East Kalimantan. Picture: AFP The finding also suggests that Stone Age hunter-gatherers living in what is now Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province had sophisticated medical knowledge of anatomy and wound treatment. ...

Sep 19, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged ,
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Riaz Hassan: Straddling the World …. An Ecumenical Scholar for All Ages–by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis I met Riaz Hassan for the first time as one of the keynote speakers at a conference organised by Neelan Tiruchelvam in Sri Lanka circa 1974 (details forgotten) when I was teaching in the History Department at Peradeniya University and Riaz was at an university in Singapore. It was the best of serendipity (a word deriving perhaps from Serendib aka Sri Lanka) that I found him attached to Flinders University when I moved to the Anthropology Department at University in 1977. Not merely that. Riaz and Selva lived at the southern end of Fullarton Road just down the hill and a literal stone’s throw from Belair where our family settled down. The Hassans then moved to another spot up the hill in Belair. Since I also chose to play cricket, soccer and rugger for Flinders ...

Sep 16, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
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Siri Gunasinghe’s Sinhala Poems in English — Just Three-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Translated by Ranjini Obeyesekere, in The Island, 25 February 2015 The Water Buffalo My beard on fire in haste, I was running, running down in the dawn, bearing the burdens of life all on my back; at the edge of the road, in a large clump of grass like a fat merchant spread eagled on his easy-chair I saw you lie. Both eyes closed; and at the earth-shattering battering of my feet you did not even start. Ears turned down; my sky-thundering lightning-like haste did not surprise you. ...

Sep 13, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , ,
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Decisive Cricket Secures Asia Cup for Lanka-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Danyal Rasool, in ESPNcricinfo, 11 September 2022, where the title runs thus: “Rajapaksa, Hasaranga, Madushan win the Asia Cup crown for Sri Lanka” ….. In the final, Pakistan were outclassed with the bat, outsmarted with the ball and outdone in the field Sri Lanka 170 for 6 (Rajapaksa 71*, Rauf 3-29) beat Pakistan 147 all out (Rizwan 55, Madushan 4-34, Hasaranga 3-27) by 23 runs A tournament that began for Sri Lanka with tumult at home and turbulence in the UAE has ended with them taking home the Asia Cup trophy. Pakistan were the side at the receiving end of this thumping, outclassed with the bat, outsmarted with the ball, outdone in the field, and out-thought in the captaincy department by an electric Sri Lankan performance which wrapped up a commanding 23-run win. ...

Sep 13, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , , , ,
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The Captivating “Story of Sri Lankan Cricket” by Nicholas Brookes-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Martin Chandler:…. in CricketWeb, 14 August 2022, reviewing Nicholas Brookes: An Island’s Eleven: The Story of Sri Lankan Cricket, The History Press, 2022, 535 pp, Rating: 4.5 stars …. with highlighting emphasis imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi In the final sentence of his preface Nicholas Brookes expresses the view; For as much as I’ve tried to ‘tell the story of Sri Lankan cricket’, this work is merely a starting point. This is, I presume, a reference to the paucity of existing literature on Sri Lankan cricket rather than an attempt to downplay his own contribution to that particularly genre. It is inevitably unfortunate and disappointing that, to date, none of Muttiah Muralitharan, Arjuna Ranatunga, Samantha Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara or Rangan Herath have been persuaded to write an autobiography, but the game in Sri Lanka does at least now have a ...

Sep 1, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , , , ,
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Gala Dinner in Sydney Gathers ‘Gold Dust’ for Children in Sri Lanka-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Kumudini Hettiarachchi in Sunday Times, 28 August 2022, where the title is “Together they made it happen in Australia for the love of Sri Lanka” Under the gavel went exotic and unique items such as works of art, a piece from Limited Edition cricket memorabilia, a Best of Sri Lanka holiday package and a bat signed by a cricket great……..and in the audience were celebrities, all linked by their love for Sri Lanka’s children. Legendary Australian fast bowler, Glenn McGrath, auctioning the bat Four hundred Australians gathered on Tuesday night (August 23) at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth for the ‘Love for Sri Lanka’ gala fundraising dinner to show they care. The funds poured in – AUD 300,000 (amounting to over Rs. 75 million). ...

Aug 31, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , , , , , ,
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Stalag Luft III and Its “Great Escape” Tunnel: An Archaelogical Treasure-by Michael Roberts The Great Escape Tunnel Source:Thuppahis Untouched for almost seven decades, the tunnel used in the Great Escape has finally been unearthed. The 111-yard passage nicknamed ‘Harry’ by Allied prisoners was sealed by the Germans after the audacious break-out from the POW camp Stalag Luft III in western Poland. Despite huge interest in the subject, encouraged by the film starring Steve McQueen, the tunnel undisturbed over the decades because it was behind the Iron Curtain and the Soviet had no interest in its significance. But at last British archaeologists have excavated it and discovered its remarkable secrets. Many of the bed boards which had been joined together to stop it collapsing were still in position. And the ventilation shaft, ingeniously crafted from used powdered milk containers known as Klim Tins, remained in working order.  Scattered throughout the tunnel, ...

Aug 29, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
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