The Royal – Thomian, a tradition worth 135 years has secured special place in certain families. Since its inception in 1879, it has been a tradition for certain families to play in the Royal – Thomian while passing the pride to the next generation.
Representing Royal
There more than 30 instances where both father and son playing for Royal with the latest being Devind Pathmanathan, the skipper from 2013 whose father Dai Pathmanathan representing Royal between 1975-1977.
There have been only two occasions where both father and the son captained Royal and that distinction goes to Churchill Hector Gunasekara (1912) ,Channa Gunasekara (1949) and D.W.L Lieversz (Snr)(1926), D.W.L Lieversz (Jnr) (1962).
H.C Dharmaratne (1925-26) and B.N Dharmaratne (1951) both were wicketkeepers for Royal.
Other famous names include G. Heyn and Bertram Heyn. The famous Ceylonese Cricketer Bertram Heyn was known for taking Don Bradman’s wicket in his last visit to Ceylon during the All Ceylon vs Australia unofficial test match in Colombo,1948. He later served as the commander of the Ceylon Army from 1966 to 1967.
Hardly anyone can forget Sumithra Warnakulasuriya’s marathon 197 runs in 1980 which also holds the series record for a batsman. His son D. Warnakulasuriya represented Royal in the 2007 encounter.
F.J de Saram’s three sons F.C, F.R and F.J (Jnr) also played for Royal in the 1930’s. Many regard F.C de Saram as one of the finest Ceylon cricketers of all time. He captained the Ceylon team from 1949 to 1954.
F.C de Saram guided the Royalists from 1968 to 1974 and later coached the Thomians at the centenary encounter in 1979.
There are few rare instances where brothers have led the teams at the Royal – Thomian. Churchill Gunasekara’s brother E.I Gunasekara captained in 1906 while F.C de Saram’s captaincy in 1931 was followed by the captaincy of his brother F.R de Saram in 1932.
T. Nirmalingam, brother of the 1948 captain T. Parathalingam, led the team in 1954.
Ajitha Pasqual’s brother Sudath Pasqual played in the 1979 centenary encounter for Royal. In the same year he was selected to represent the national side at the World Cup thus becoming the youngest ever to play in an ODI for Sri Lanka. Later in 1980 he led the Royalists at the big match. Ajitha Pasqual captained in 1973.
Brothers A. de Alwis (1975) and N. de Alwis (1980) both represented Royal as wicketkeepers.
The encounter has witnessed over 50 instances where brothers of the same family took pride in wearing the Blue & Gold Blazer. D.W.L Lieversz’s (Snr) and brother E.G.L Lieversz played between 1925 and 1927 while E.G.L Lieversz’s son E.C.L Lieversz led the winning team in 1969.
Dai Pathmanathan’s brother the late Gajan Pathmanathan played for college between 1971and 1972. Later he represented both the Oxford and Cambridge Cricket teams, which was a unique feat.
C.E Corea’s grandson N.D.P Hettiaratchy played in 1969 and 1970, a rare occasion where the grandfather and the grandson both played for Royal. C.E Corea played from 1882 to 1885.
The Gunasekara family holds the rare distinction of a family hat-trick for Royal. D.B Gunasekara’s (Snr) (1889-92) two sons D.B Gunasekara (Jnr) and A.L Gunasekara played from 1929-30 and 1931-1932 respectively. D.B Gunaseakara’s (Jnr) son A.R Gunasekara represented Royal from 1966 to 1968 while A.L Gunsekara’s son L.D Gunsekara took the field in 1975.
Representing S.Thomas’
Turning on to the Thomian camp, P.N.W Goonesekara (1964) and S.N.W Goonesekara (1992) holds the record for a father-son combination of leading S.Thomas’ at the Royal-Thomian.
P.B Bulankulame (1919-20), Patchy Bulankulame (1956) and Suresh Bulankulame (1989-90) carry the rare feature of three generations of opening batting and wicket-keeping for the Thomians.
R.L De Alwis who played in the 1946 encounter as the Thomian wicketkeeper had two sons who were also the stumpers for the side, R.G De Alwis (1976-77) and L.K De Alwis (1978-81).
Michael Tissera played for S.Thomas from 1954 to 1958 and was the captain in 1957 and 1958. His sons G.Tissera (1983-84) and D.Tissera (1990-92) also had the opportunity to wear the Blue and Black Blazer.
Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu (1910-12) and his sons C.S Saravanamuttu (1944-45) and B.S Saravanamuttu (1941) all played for S.Thomas’ at the highest level.
O.A Abeynaike’s son late Ranil Abeynaike played for S.Thomas’ from 1971 to 1973, also captaining in his final year. O.A Abeynaike represented college in 1941.
The first prime minister of independent Sri Lanka Hon. D.S. Senanayake played in the Royal-Thomian in 1901 and 1902 while his sons Dudley Senanayake (1927-29) and Robert Senanayake (1928-32) too had the honour of representing college as well.
Former test captain Duleep Mendis, who also led Sri Lanka to their first test victory in 1985, captained the Thomians in 1972. During his career from 1970 to 1972, he scored two centuries including the record score for a two-day Royal-Thomian encounter, being 184 in 1972. Twenty years later, his nephew Manoj Mendis (1991-94) scored two consecutive centuries (in 1992 and 1993), the only occurrence where two family relatives scoring consecutive centuries. Manoj Mendis also captained in 1994. Duleep Mendis’s son Sanjeev Mendis (2003-05) vice captained S.Thomas’ in 2005.
There are two instances of brothers of the same family captaining S.Thomas’ at the Royal-Thomain. The two brothers of Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Manicasothy and Saptaranajyoti captained the Thomian camp in 1914 and 1918 respectively. Sasi Ganeshan, the Thomian skipper in 1976 was followed by the captaincy of his brother Ajith Ganeshan in 1977. Ajith Ganeshan also acted as the deputy in 1976.
Dhammika Bulankulame (in 1984) and his brother Anura Bulankulame (in 1987) hold the distinction for scoring centuries at the big match. Anura Bulankulame also led the Thomians to victory after 24 years in 1988. His brother Suresh Bulankulame also played from 1988 to 1990
The Thomians hold six family hat-tricks at the Royal-Thomian. J.S De Saram’s (1879) two sons J.G De Saram (1911-1913) and the late Warden Cannon De Saram (1915-1917) and grandson M. De Saram (1945) all had the privilege to represent college.
Ashmore Peiris (1923) along with his son Mevan Peiris (1964-65) and grandson Nilaka Peiris (1994-95) took part in this historical battle. A.H Molamure’s (1907) son A.F Molamure (1940-41) played for the Thomian side while his grandson F.Molamure (1981-82) did so too.
E.A Elapata (1886-89) who was also the captain in 1888 and 1889 had a son Sam Elapata (1915-17) who represented the Thomians while his two grandsons S.Elapata, E.Elapata (1941-45) and Upali Katugaha (1945-47) also played for college.
W.B De Saram’s (captain of the Thomian sides in 1884 and 1885) son C.F.W De Saram (1923) and grandson W. Jayatileke (1935-37) all represented college.
P.B Bulankulame (1917-1920)’s son P.B Bulankulame (Jnr) (1954-56) and three grandsons Dhammika, Anura and Suresh all had the opportunity to play at the Royal-Thomian.
An instance of 4th generation is very much rare and the distinction goes to Arthur Bulner (1892) and his grandsons P.I Peiris, David Peiris (1950-54) while his great grandsons Johan Peiris (son of David Peiris) and Ranil Peiris (son of P.I Peiris) also played for college from 1979 to 1983.
Representing both Schools
Some families carry the rare instances representing both schools, reflecting the strong attachment between these two prestigious institutions.
P.B Bulankulame’s brother L.B Bulankulame captained Royal in 1910 while P.B Bulankulame led the Thomians in 1919 and 1920. P.N.S Kariyawasam’s brother P.L.D Kariyawasam led the Thomian side in 1969 and 1970. P.N.S Kariyawasam was the Royal skipper in 1975. P.G.S Kariyawasam from the same family, played from 1977 to 1979, vice captaining the Royal side in the centenary encounter.
Out of the 14 occasions of father-son combinations representing the opposite schools, perhaps the most famous are the De Saram family. F.J De Saram’s two sons F.C De Saram (1928-31) and F.J De Saram (Jnr) (1939) represented Royal while F.C De Saram’s son D.L De Saram (1967-69) played for S.Thomas’. F.C De Saram’s grandson Malik Samarasinghe played for Royal in 1982 and 1983 while his father Maithree Samarasinghe played for S.Thomas’ in 1953 and 1954. F.J De Saram (Jnr)’s son F.J. De Saram (Jnr)(Jnr) represented S.Thomas’ in 1972 and 1973.
It is no doubt these families have carried the Royal-Thomian traditions in their blood, while passing them on from generation to generation, relinquishing the rich history of this 135 year old heritage.
