Flavian Aponso 60 not out
Former Sri Lanka cricketer Flavian Aponso will celebrate his 60th birthday on Sunday (October 28).
Aponso who is currently living in England in retirement and does part time coaching, holds a unique record of playing cricket for the national teams of two countries – Sri Lanka and Holland.
Having started his career as a schoolboy at St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa, Aponso later captain the school team and first came to notice representing the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Team against Australian Schools team in 1972.
Aponso represented Sri Lanka under 25 test team against Pakistan under 25 in 1975 and his first call to the national team the same year for the ‘Gopalan Trophy’ Tournament.
Later that year he made the Sri Lanka National Pool for the West Indies Tour of Sri Lanka and also for the First Cricket World Cup in England.
He was also part of the 1979 Sri Lanka National Pool for the World Cup and was also a member of the Sri Lanka National Pool for the Australian Tour of Sri Lanka in 1981.
However his career came to an abrupt end after he joined the Sri Lanka rebel team under Bandula Warnapura that toured the then apartheid South Africa in 1982 and was banned fromt the game.
After the ban was lifted in 1993, Aponso represented the Air Lanka Team which won the World Airline Tournament in Malaysia.
In 1995 he represented Sri Lanka Team for the World Masters Cricket Tournament in India.
During his exile from the Sri Lanka cricket, Aponso migrated to Holland and was picked for the Holland national
Aponso who is currently living in England in retirement and does part time coaching, holds a unique record of playing cricket for the national teams of two countries – Sri Lanka and Holland.
team. He played for the Holland national team against Ireland in 1987, against Scotland and Denmark in 1988, against Australia and England in 1989, toured Dubai, Namibia & South Africa with the Holland Team before representing Holland Team for the ICC Tournament in the Netherlands in 1990. In 1993 Aponso represented Holland Team for the Nat-West County Championship and played against Middlesex, Sussex, Essex and Nottingham.
He also represented Holland Team for the ICC Tournament in Kenya and played for Holland Team against South Africa and toured India and Kenya with the Holland Team in 1995.
In 1996, Aponso was picked in the Holland team at the age of 44 for the ICC Cricket World Cup in which Sri Lanka finished champions.
Aponso served as a professional cricket coach/player for 25 years in Holland between 1981 – 2005 became the First Foreign Player to achieve that milestone.
He was also the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket Association in the Netherlands, which organized the Annual ‘Sri Lanka/Dutch Cricket Tournament’ from 1994 – 2005.
At the AGM of St. Sebastian’s College OBA – UK Branch, Aponso was elected the President for the year 2012/13