6 years on from the controversial draw at the 132nd Battle of the Blues, here is Thomian Asiri Wickramanayake’s recollection of what happened in the year 2011.
by Asiri Wickramanayake (represented S. Thomas’ College 2011-2012)
During the big match week you hear a variety of stories- stories about weak teams rising to the occasion, centuries scored through sheer will, and captains reminiscing the good old days. This story is a bit different. It is about eleven young men and the obstacles they faced when powerful people decided who they wanted as their winner.
This is a narrative drawn out from the mother of all big matches, the Battle of the Blues in its 132nd edition, when a determined Thomian team had to weather a storm of obstacles from its own administration and external forces to bring the shield back to Mount Lavinia.
Many vaguely recall the scandal of 2011; but very few knew what truly happened. This is that story.
The tale of the 2011 Thomian team goes way back to the time of legendary Patchy Bulankulama, a man considered by many as one of the finest players to represent The School by the Sea, a coach with a reputation of unearthing and nurturing stars of tomorrow. A unique individual with an eye for talent and someone who could pick a needle from a haystack with a mere glance.
It was in 2001 when the ‘Boss’ spotted the likes of Chamod Pathirana, Neomal Wickramasekara, Umesh Fernando, Nilaksha Fernando, Brian Dharmasena, Sachin Peiris, Ramith Guneratne and myself. As years ticked by, we became inseparable and I ended up sharing the dressing room with these guys for almost 10 years, leading up to the 132nd Battle of the Blues.
Growing in confidence every year, we all shared one dream and always worked tirelessly day in and day out. Our ambitions were set high and the ultimate goal was to be the one of the best Thomian sides to walk out to the Battle of the Blues – a goal that was well within our abilities.
After years of sacrifices, struggle, sheer determination and hard work we arrived at the scene. The stage was set and with the addition of Nuwan Kavinda, Kavindu Perera, Madushan Ravichandrakumar and Javed Bongso, the team was at the peak of its powers when the season commenced in September 2010.
Misfortune struck when speedster Nilaksha Fernando picked up an injury that ultimately cost him the season. Nilaksha being one of the fastest bowlers in school arena that year, it was a big loss to us. As a replacement, in came left arm fast bowler Mevantha Fernando.
With the guidance of head coach Sajith Fernando who was assisted by Shiraz Samsudeen and Dharantha Meenerigama, it was smooth sailing for us during the season. We cruised through to 4 outright wins and an unbeaten record during the first term. Almost arrogantly we were calmly moving towards the goal we had envisaged years ago.
After 4 months of cricket, we came into the business end of the season. The articles, interviews and media coverage began to hype up the unbeaten Thomian team. Expectations were high and the statements were made, “Beat us if you dare!”
As the morale of the Thomian camp grew, controversy and roadblocks began to creep in and the 3 months of eagerly awaiting the big day suddenly changed to 3 months of sheer panic and uncertainty. Despite the other issues the team was battling, our sole attention was on our teammate Neomal Wickramasekara, who was battling his own demons off the pitch. Leading on to the big match, we felt isolated and targeted by our own administrators, but with a supportive coaching staff, master in charge Mr. Lakmal De Zoysa, trainer Mr. Charith Abeywickrama and most importantly the college prefects, who proved to be a tower of strength during the turbulent times, we stayed confident of achieving our goal.
As March dawned, our attention shifted back to the Royal -Thomian. On the day before the big match, the team visited the SSC to inspect the pitch. S. Thomas’ being the hosts, had the privilege of preparing the wicket for the game. Being a team that was precise in its planning and execution, we requested for the grass to be shaved off in order to make it more suitable for spinners (given we had 2 fast bowlers and 4 spinners). We wanted to negate the impact of a superior pace attack of Royal which included Gaurav Deva, Imran khan and Anjana who had all the possible skills in their arsenal. During our pitch inspection we found to our dismay that the grass has not been trimmed at all.
To this day we do not know what had happened and why our request fell on deaf ears. Surprisingly, the curator was a Thomian and little was left to ponder. Moments later, news spread that one of the officials umpiring the game was a relative of a Royal player. To add further insult to injury, the other official had the same last name as Royal College’s captain which added more drama to the comical few hours leading up to the game. We couldn’t help but feel that we were set up to lose.
Being at S.Thomas’ from a young age, we were taught to thrive under pressure, in fact, we yearned for it. When we donned the blue black and blueblazer, we knew we weren’t wearing it because we were the most skilled but because we were the strong enough to carry the responsibility that came with it. With all external issues and the awful feeling that it was not only the Royalists who wanted us defeated, it made us more determined, angrier and a stronger unit to prove our critics wrong and engrave our name in the history books.
Finally the big day arrived. The spotlight was on us and the stadium was packed when the captains walked into the middle for the toss. Although the Royal captain was marshalled by 3 Royal Officials, which is customary, the Thomian captain was on his own as the official assigned to accompany him never showed up. As drama unfolded during the toss, Chamod made the right call and invited Royal to bat on a green surface that was so graciously prepared for us by the Thomian curator.
With Royal openers appearing from the SSC tunnel, Chamod Pathirana had the responsibility of leading the pace attack in the absence of Nilaksha Fernando with only fresher Mevantha Fernando as support. As we were prone to controversy in this particular Royal Thomian, our left arm spinner Neomal Wickramasekara was abruptly stopped by umpires during his first over. A player who has represented college right throughout and playing at the schools’ highest level for two years without any problem was called out for an illegal action, leaving everyone shell shocked. The Thomian skipper Chamod had no alternative but to remove Neomal from the attack which was an already weakened bowling lineup. Thanks to a gallant performance by the skipper himself and leggie Madushan Ravichandrakumar claiming 5 and 4 wickets respectively, we restricted Royal College to 276 for 9 wickets before declaration.
With a decent first innings target set by Royal, Javed Bongso and I walked out to bat confidently. Our top 6 were in top form with Nuwan Kavinda leading the way, scoring over 1000 runs closely followed by myself with 800 runs while the rest of them topped 600 runs each, making the target well within our reach.
However, Gaurav Deva had different plans and we were in early trouble, 4 down with just 64 run on the board. This was a predicament we hadn’t experienced throughout the season. Although treading unfamiliar waters, we were confident in our batting lineup and as expected Chamod Pathirana, Kavindu Perera and Madushan rose up to the occasion to notch up fifties along with a Neomal Wickramasekara cameo at the end which took the total to 323.
During the second essay, Royal was able to fire back with another stellar batting performance and a sporting declaration at 312 set S.Thomas’ a target of 268 in 54 overs. Personally, I felt that it was incredibly brave of Royal to give us that target to chase given the strength of our batting line up. These boys wanted the shield and we respected the challenge that was put on the table.
Whilst running into the dressing room with Javed, we heard some of the Thomians screaming, “Bat all day, bat all day”. We wanted to win to be remembered as one of the greatest teams. As a team we took more pride in going down fighting, whatever happened in the game, we knew we would fight to the end. We were willing to put everything on the line at that point.
Our coach Sajith Fernando walked calmly towards Javed and myself and whispered “Go for it”. Both of us had a point to prove and carted the bowlers around. The whole stadium was on its feet and everybody knew that we were going for the win. Javed Bongso made the quickest twenty runs I had seen him score and I mustered a quick 43. We laid the foundation for Sachin Peiris and Nuwan Kavinda to put on a show during which they made the bowlers appear mediocre. Every ball was struck with purpose and passion and as Nuwan Kavinda departed, in came the leader of the bomb squad, Ramith Guneratne.
However, with just 34 runs to win in 8 overs with 5 wickets in hand, horror struck. In the dressing room we felt a multitude of emotions. After battlingobstacle after obstacle, the team that many wanted beaten were moments away from making history. We were going to be among the very best… Or so we thought.
The game was stopped. The umpires called the teams off the field citing bad light. You could almost sense the shock in every Thomian fan in the stadium. They looked on in utter disbelief, confused as to why the two umpires would walk off the field with 8 overs to go, despite the light being bright enough to continue play. We could sense it was a controversial decision. The greatest day of our lives, and we were being robbed! We just felt betrayed at that point and were utterly dismayed.
The Royal supporters became louder, almost boisterous in their cheers. Tears were flowing so freely that we didn’t even look at each other. A few moments later, two Thomians we respected, the last winning Thomian captain Ashan Peiris and his team mate Sajith Kularatne showed up in the Thomian dressing room, offering support. To add to the controversy when Chamod sprinted down the tunnel to speak to the officials as to why the game was stopped, his requests to be shown evidence as to the light being too bad for the game to continue were rejected. Everyone was traumatized and confused by the umpire’s decisions, especially in an event as big as the Royal-Thomian. To date the actual light reading when the game was called off, remains a mystery.
The minutes that followed felt like years and eventually Chamod Pathirana got up to put his blazer on. He gathered his troops and reminded us why we wore the blazer. Holding back our tears of disappointment and anger with great difficulty, we walked out to the grounds with pride. Chamod convinced us to put smiles on our faces for our supporters and school. We shook hands with the Royal team, lifted the shield and brought it back home.
Six years since then and as a 25-year-old reflecting on that Royal-Thomian encounter, I feel a deep sense of pride in those boys with whom I shared that dressing room. With all that took place on that day and with everything the boys had to go through that season, the courage displayed by the lads to accept fate and walk out with a smile was remarkable.
Maybe history will call us one of the best teams or maybe it won’t, frankly none of us wanted such a title after that day. I hope when they do talk aboutthe 2011 team, they just remember a group of boys who fought for S. Thomas’ day in and day out with smiles on their faces. A group of boys that did everything within their capability to bring the shield home. That is something that no board or official could take away from us.
So, to the team taking the field this year, Good luck! I hope you boys walk with the attitude and courage the blue and black blazer demands and stand for something bigger than just a contest between bat and a ball.
