LEGENDARY ‘SATHA’ OF WESLEY AND OTHERS REMEMBERED
There was a lot of activity at Wesley College, Colombo, Baseline Road over the weekend. Old Boys from all parts of the country and those domiciled abroad made bee-line to Campbell Place to honour their school and some of their past stalwarts.
It must be recalled that some of the country's greatest sports personalities such as the late M. Sathasivam, Ansar Fuard, Abu Fuard, Lou Adihetty, and Cedric Oorloff, who later became the Principal of Trinity College Kandy, all emerged from Wesley. Hockey wizard A. Mylvaganam, was also one of the Wesley ‘greats’.
Wesley College cricket stalwart, the late Ansar Fuard, who captained a 1954 cricket team which had a load of talent, was posthumously honoured for his contribution on the field during a special ceremony which marked the school’s 120-year cricket history.
Honoured with him were eight other Wesley cricket legends: batting maestro Mahadevan Sathasivam, spin wizards Sridharan Jeganathan and Abu Fuard, Bryan Claessen, Lou Adihetty, Nalendra Abeysuriya, Hilary de Vos and Robin Reimers.
Ansar led a side which had players such as Lou and Vince Adihetty, Herman Claessen, M. Samsudeen, Ananda Batuwitage, N. Fernando, B. Jurangpathy, Neil Gallaher, A. Chapman and his brother Abu.
The special celebration, at which Ansar was honoured, took place in the college hall and was graced by several distinguished past Wesley cricketers, who had assembled from all over the world.
Wesley College, the 136 year old school which has a rich in addition has served the country to the hilt. It has produced some of the best professionals on and of the field. Among
Honoured with Ansar Fuard were eight other Wesley cricket legends: batting maestro Mahadevan Sathasivam, spin wizards Sridharan Jeganathan, Abu Fuard, Bryan Claessen, Lou Adihetty, Nalendra Abeysuriya, Hilary de Vos and Robin Reimers
them is Sir Baron Jayatilleke, a great politician in the pre-independence era. At present the Campbell Park School gates are open to all without discrimination. The world - one earth but different tongues is their strong belief. Wesley has served humanity without distinction and off the field. Wesley’s present principal is Shanthi McLleland a hockey player and athlete of quality. He took over from another great Old Wesleyite, M.A.P. Fernando who was an outstanding cricketer.
The motive behind this get-together was to reunite past and present Wesleyites.
Wesley has not forgotten the past greats who have crossed the great divide. All time legend M. Sathasivam, the pride Wesley played for Ceylon and Malaysia and held his own against the world’s best at all times. His bat was his magic wand. This scribe has been fortunate to witness Satha’s exploits. He batted with charm and aggression. No protective gear. He never complained about the pitch even if it was a glue pot! He could cut any attack to ribbons. He never went for records. His vision was to provide entertaining cricket. He played with greats such as Y.C.G. Gunasekera. F.C. De Saram and Bertie Wijesinghe to name but a few.
Former Tamil Union President and Secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket S. Skanda Kumar was full of praise for Sathasivam. Hockey great T. Mylvaganam or ‘Myla’ as he was known was one of the best in Asia. He played cricket and hockey for the Tamil Union as well.
Abu Fuard, who passed away recently, was an off spinner of quality and turned out for Ceylon with great success. He was a member of the 1964 Ceylon team led by Mike Tissera when they beat India at Ahamadabad. Abu was never afraid to call a spade a spade and served cricket for the right reasons. People of his quality are few these days. Let Wesley’s ‘double blue’ stature on and off the field live for ever.