Thurstan - Wesley clash for Rajaratnam Trophy
Sunil Karunanayake
Thurstan will scrum down with Wesley for the Diyanesh Rajaratnam
trophy on June 11 at the CR & FC grounds, Longdon Place. Diyanesh
Rajaratnam trophy was inaugurated in 1998 in memory of late Diyanesh
Rajaratnam who is the only Thurstanite to have captained both cricket
and rugby at Thurstan; he captained the cricket team in 1971 and rugby
team in 1972.
The match is also of significance due to the fact that Rajaratnam
came over to Thurstan from Wesley in 1967 and the Rajaratnam family
renowned for sports had links with both these schools.
Diyanesh Rajaratnam played his first game for Thurstan in 1968 as a
wing three quarter against Wesley and scored Thurstan's first try and
the match was won by Thurstan 8-3. This team was captained by Upali
Hewage (currently Deputy Inspector General of Police Sabaragamuwa Range)
who rendered yeoman service to Thurstan for well over a decade in
serving as its Rugby - Co-ordinator.
DIG Upali Hewage has most fittingly being invited to be the Chief
Guest for the occasion. Diyanesh won fame more as a leading schoolboy
cricketer and had the honour of representing Ceylon Schools team in
their Indian tour of 1970 where the series was won by them.
After leaving school he continued an active cricket career and
represented Nomads & Tamils in the premier division and was a Sri Lanka
trialist and represented board President's xi. He also coached Thurstan
cricket for a brief period.
After retiring from first class cricket Diyanesh turned out be a
leading commentator and sports program presenter for the SLBC achieving
great heights as a Cricket and a Rugby commentator, this is yet another
outstanding feat of this great sportsman who passed away suddenly in
1997.
Thurstan & Wesley has been playing each other regularly from 1959 and
the Rajaratnam Trophy was won by Thurstan from inception in 1998 up to
2001 while Wesley has been the holders since 2002.
Both Thurstan and Wesley who played in the "A" division last year
were relegated to "B" division this year and have had limited success. |