Former Sri Lankan cricketer Bertie Wijesinghe, who represented Ceylon in the pre-Test era, passed away on Saturday at the age of 96.
Wijesinhe, an allrounder who bowled off spin and medium pace, represented S Thomas’ College Mt Lavinia from 1936 to 1939. He then moved to SSC and played for Ceylon in the pre-Test era.
The opening bowler for the SSC, from the Thunmulla end, was Bertie Wijesinghe. Studied his action from the non-striker’s end with clarity and intense attention. His pace was quick and noticed something startling. His talent was to put a spin on the ball and make it bounce off a good length.
In 1938, Bertie captained S. Thomas losing to Royal by an innings. In 1939 captaining S. Thomas again, he secured a five-wicket victory for the school by the sea with a remarkable half a century against such bowlers as E C Kelaart and R L de Kretser.
In the 1939 season, he scored a spectacular double century of 235 runs against St Benedict’s College. After completing his studies Bertie played club cricket for the Singhalese Sports Club, first under Sargo Jayawickrema and thereafter under F C de Saram. His colleagues at the S S C were such giants as D S Jayasundara, Ben Navaratne, Mahes Rodrigo, Lucien de Soysa, C I Gunasekera, Robert Senanayake and M O Gooneratne, a wizard of spin, turn and bounce, whose deliveries travelled with a whistling sound of a twister.
Spinners of today are caricatures. In 1940, Bertie won the national cricket cap, selected to play against Pakistan at the Colombo Oval which Ceylon lost by an innings, routed by Fazal Mohamed and Khan Mohamed.
Wijesinhe’s greatest contribution, though, was as a coach. The Wettimuny brothers – Sunil, Mithra and Sidath – who all played for the Sri Lanka were coached by Wijesinghe.
“Whatever skills we learnt from cricket we owe it to him,” Wettimuny said. “He was a fabulous coach, the best in the business. His knowledge and the way he transferred that knowledge to us was fantastic. Bertie lived a full life and was one of the greatest cricketers produced by SSC and one of the best coaches the country has produced.”
Former Sri Lanka and SSC captain Tennekoon also paid tribute to Wijesinhe:
“He helped me to brush up my technique from school to club level. He was very good at putting the basics right of a cricketer whether it be batting or bowling, that was his main strength.”
Wijesinhe had also worked as the sports editor of the Daily News from 1953 to 1972 and, alongside another SSC stalwart Lucien de Zoysa, provided ball-by-ball commentary on radio.Wijesinhe, after his international retirement, took up Journalism in London in 1952, while continuing to play for a local club named West Indian Wanderers.
Bertie was a ‘real swell’ and lived simply in keeping with the motto, “simple living, high thinking”.
