The Wettimuny Trio of Accomplished Opening Batsmen-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis The Sri Lankan world of cricket was well served in the past by an accomplished set of batsmen school at Ananda College and the Sinhalese Sports Club who were all, remarkably, opening batsmen. The first of these lads to hit the headlines was Mithra Wettimuny – the second in the brotherly line-up. As Captain of Ananda, [1] he was selected to lead the Ceylon schoolboys in their tour of India in 1969 ……. with guidance from managers A. D. Karunananda and Angelo Rayer. The squad had an outstanding tour – in fact securing a set of remarkable results (see Ranjan Anandappa’s recounting at https://thuppahis.com/2024/07/02/the-wettimuny-trio-of-accomplished-opening-batsmen/ as It was not Mithra, but the eldest Sunil that hit the headlines next when selected in the squad touring England for the ODI World Cup in 1975 – with Anura Tennekoon as captain and KMT Perera Sunil Wettimuny (Sri Lanka) ...

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Nostalgia of evoking courageous labours of Hon Late Gamini Dissanayake in conquering Test status – by Sunil Thenabadu The endeavours of the late Gamini Dissanayake, while holding several Ministerial Portfolios other than spearheading the Mahaweli project, have helped vastly to uplift to a large extent the basic living standards, especially of the average citizen and made a tremendous impact on the economic revival of the country, which is of course is no exaggeration. Besides being dynamically engaged in our development progression, he found the time to be actively involved in the game of cricket; having held office as the President of the Board of Control of Cricket in Sri Lanka, (BCCSL, now known as Sri Lanka Cricket,SLC) from June 1981 to June 1989 and thereafter, for a brief period of four months, immediately prior to his tragic death in 1994; during which period he made loads of momentous contributions. Throughout the tenure ...

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Remembering Percy Abeysekera: Lanka’s Cricketing Flagbearer-by Michael Roberts   Source:Thuppahis Percy Abeysekera has passed away recently …. carrying the Sri Lankan flag and reams of cricketing memories with him to an abode in the skies: memories that encompassed at least 70-72 years of cricketing cheer. Yes, that long a span. To me, Percy was first and foremost, an Aloysian. When I joined the St. Aloysius cheering squad as a 14-to-16 year old at the Galle Esplanade during our cricketing matches against Richmond, Mahinda and other schools, Percy was one of our cheerleaders. So, his patriotism and his crazy cricketing virtuosity was nurtured in Galle …. at our school. It is likely that most Sri Lankan cricket-fans will have a mental picture of “Pissu Percy” escorting some of our cricketing heroes to the boundary gates after some on-field cricketing achievement. Yes, I display such moments a few lines hence: but the ...

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Introducing an Essay on an Ethnic Confrontation at a Cricket Match in 1981-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis This ‘encounter’ took place in 1981 and involved a Burgher Sri Lankan barracker earning the combined ‘resistance’ of an Aussie cricketer and Sinhala bystander (Sinha). As an observer of this set of exchanges, I moved beyond a clarification of the historical understandings embedded in Sinha’s success in ‘defeating’ the aggressive Burgher to address the relationship and differences between ‘typical’ anthropological studies and ‘typical’ historical work. The essay was published in Comparative Studies in Society and History in 1985. The pdf version has been converted into Word File by my Aloysian schoolmate KK De Silva, a cricketer and soccer goalkeeper in his school-heyday. Because it is a pdf, I have not been able to assemble the Footnotes as “End Notes.” ...

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Kotmale Dam and Reservoir. Renamed: Kothmale Gamini Dissanayake Reservoir – By Dr Harold Gunatillake Location of the Dam There are about 30,000 reservoirs in Sri Lanka of which the majority were built from the 3rd century BC to the 12th century. These were mainly constructed in the dry zone area- the Northern and Eastern part of the land an area of about 40,000 sq. kilometers (where almost all the tanks are located), These reservoirs were essential in these areas to collect rainwater from the streams for irrigation purposes. During the present century, such reservoirs with a dam were constructed to collect the streaming water not only for irrigation purposes but with the objective of generating hydropower. Kotmale Dam construction with a view to generating hydropower began in August 1979, and ceremoniously opened in February 1985 and was renamed the Gamini Dissanayake Reservoir on 11 April 2003 following a request by ...

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Eric Roles at Cricket in Perth: Rendering Service-by Michael Roberts   Source:Thuppahis Veedhi Pelpola’s Speech at the Willetton Cricket Club, Perth …. “Eric Role’s Life Membership Induction Speech” ….. as supplemented with pertinent photogaphs on 23 April 2023.  Good evening, Everyone,  I am honoured to stand before you to talk about Eric Roles, who has dedicated a large portion of his life to the Willetton Junior Cricket Club and the improvement of young cricketers going through the ranks. As a coach, Eric has coached Willetton Junior Cricket Club teams since the 2012/2013 season therefore accumulating in 11 years of coaching, 10 of those without having a son or grandson in the team, a testament to his unwavering dedication and service. ...

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Eric Roles at Cricket in Perth: Rendering Service-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Veedhi Pelpola’s Speech at the Willetton Cricket Club, Perth …. “Eric Role’s Life Membership Induction Speech”   Good evening, Everyone,  I am honoured to stand before you to talk about Eric Roles, who has dedicated a large portion of his life to the Willetton Junior Cricket Club and the improvement of young cricketers going through the ranks. As a coach, Eric has coached Willetton Junior Cricket Club teams since the 2012/2013 season therefore accumulating in 11 years of coaching, 10 of those without having a son or grandson in the team, a testament to his unwavering dedication and service. ...

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Evoking labours of Hon Late Gamini Dissanayake in conquering Test status – by Sunil Thenabadu  The endeavours of the late Gamini Dissanayake, while holding several Ministerial Portfolios other than spearheading the Mahaweli project, have helped vastly to uplift to a large extent the basic living standards, especially of the average citizen and made a tremendous impact on the economic revival of the country, which is of course is no exaggeration. Besides being dynamically engaged in our development progression, he found the time to be actively involved in the game of cricket; having held office as the President of the Board of Control of Cricket in Sri Lanka, (BCCSL, now known as Sri Lanka Cricket,SLC) from June 1981 to June 1989 and thereafter, for a brief period of four months, immediately prior to his tragic death in 1994; during which period he made loads of momentous contributions. Throughout the tenure of past ...

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Remembering an indefatigable icon-HON GAMINI DISSANAYAKE – By Sunil Thenabadu Tribute to Gamini Dissanayake: The endeavours of the late Gamini Dissanayake, while holding several Ministerial Portfolios other than spearheading the Mahaweli project, have helped vastly to uplift to a large extent the basic living standards, especially of the average citizen and made a tremendous impact on the economic revival of the country, which is of course is no exaggeration. Besides being dynamically engaged in our development progression, he found the time to be actively involved in the game of cricket; having held office as the President of the Board of Control of Cricket in Sri Lanka, (BCCSL, now known as Sri Lanka Cricket, SLC) from June 1981 to June 1989 and thereafter, for a brief period of four months, immediately prior to his tragic death in 1994; during which period he made loads of momentous contributions. Throughout the tenure of ...

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Gamini Dissanayake : Superlative revelation of a supreme Politician – by Sunil Thenabadu The day 23rd   October 2022 denotes the 28th death anniversary of   charismatic, captivating and superlative politician Gamini Dissanayake who was cruelly killed by a LTTE female suicide bomber on the night of the 23rd of October 1994, in Thotalanga  along with many UNP stalwarts who were canvassing in a last ditch campaign for his own presidential race. The news of his tragic sparked instantly island wide and also worldwide, the death which shattered all hopes and thwarted people’s dream and aspirations of their charismatic and caring leader becoming the President of the country which  otherwise was inevitable, with the presidential election just two weeks away. It was an irreparable rout to the entire nation, as during his 24 year tenure of service in dynamic affairs of state, he had achieved more than a lifetime’s worth of milestones, ...

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