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| Tuesday, 30 March 2004 |
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Sports | |
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First Rajan cricket captain Arthur Alwis dies by S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen, Kandy sports corr. The death occurred last week of former Dharmaraja College cricket captain and cricket coach and First Secretary of the Central Province Cricket Umpires' Association P.L. Arthur Alwis and his cremation took place at Mahaiyawa General Cemetery on March 25. P.L. Arthur Alwis affectionately known as 'Athur' was an institution by himself among the Rajans and the cricket loving public in the hill capital and his contribution as a player coach and administrator was immense. He played for Dharmaraja College as a fine batsman and a slow bowler from 1940 to 1944 and captained the side in 1944. Though the Dharmaraja-Kingswood Big Match started in 1899 it took 44 years to register its first centurion and it was late Arthur Alwis who scored it, under unusual circumstances. Arthur Alwis was batting with T.B. Talwatte who was ahead in runs and nearing his century when he was struck by a bouncer and taken to the hospital for treatment. Meanwhile Arthur Alwis raced to his century - a record which can never to be emulated. Talwatte returned from the hospital and scored the few runs required to reach his century but second to Arthur. Rajans won the match by an innings and 152 runs and is one of the biggest margins of victory in the series. Arthur Alwis captained the Rajans in 1944 and led his side to victory in the Big Match. Later he turned out for Kandy Untied CC and the Central Province teams and also for the Kandy Lake Club. He coached Dharmaraja College for a record number of years, coming to the rescue of the Rajans whenever his services were required from the sixties producing a galaxy of cricketers. Even while he was in his seventies he coached the Rajans. A few years back the Rajans having a lean season and fared badly in the Big Match though possessing a talented side. He was brought in as the consultant coach for the limited over match against Kignswood and the Rajans turned the tables and won this encounter. Arthur Alwis played a key role in the adminstration of the Central Province Cricket and it was at the time, there were no finances coming from the Headquarters and they had to find their own funds to host visiting teams or conduct its tournaments. He was also the one time Chairman of the Dharmaraja College Cricket Foundation established to uplift the standard of cricket at Dharmaraja College especially at the junior level where his expertise was much sought after. Another achievement of late Arthur Alwis was that he was one of the first from Kandy to be enroled as a member of the Association of Cricket Umpires of Ceylon in the sixties along with Aelian Wereerasuriya and late A. Balasuriya. But this trio felt that Kandy should have a cricket umpires association of its own and went on to form the Central Province Cricket Umpires Association in 1967 at a meeting held at the Police Pavilion. |
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