{"id":84086,"date":"2022-01-14T06:02:23","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T06:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=84086"},"modified":"2022-01-14T06:02:23","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T06:02:23","slug":"australia-vs-ceylon-at-the-colombo-oval-in-march-1953-and-constantine-by-michael-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/australia-vs-ceylon-at-the-colombo-oval-in-march-1953-and-constantine-by-michael-roberts\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia vs Ceylon at the Colombo Oval in March 1953 \u2026 and Constantine-by Michael Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia vs Ceylon at the Colombo Oval in March 1953 \u2026 and Constantine-by Michael Roberts<\/span><\/h1>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

Source:<\/span><\/strong>Thuppahis<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In focusing on Learie Constantine\u2019s spell as a coach in the island in 1953 I was prompted initially by his report on the one-day encounter between the Australian cricket team led by Lindsay Hassett and a Ceylon team, a \u201cwhistle-stop game\u201d as it was known then because the Aussies played such matches on their way to England by ship on several occasions dating from the early decades of the 20th<\/sup>\u00a0century.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The details of this encounter were presented in 1998 in the book\u00a0Crosscurrents. Sri Lanka and Australia at Cricket<\/em><\/strong>,\u00a0by Michael Roberts & Alfred James under the cover of Walla Walla Press<\/strong>.[1]<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0I was able to present such reports because of my convivial interaction with one of Sri Lanka\u2019s star batsman, CH \u2018Channa\u2019 Gunasekara,<\/span><\/p>\n

whose scrapbook was a goldmine of news cuttings.[2]<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

These details include reviews of the one-day match by Bill O\u2019Reilly, Jack Fingleton and Learie Constantine. Fingleton and O\u2019Reilly were former Aussie cricketers become journalists. Constantine was reporting on the performance of a team he had trained and possibly had a voice in selecting. Such an intervention would be unusual today; but it suggests that Learie\u2019s standing was such that no one considered it strange to have his assessments.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

O\u2019Reilly<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0Fingleton<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

I have reproduced these details, inclusive, of photographs, in another spot in Thuppahi.[3]<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here, I set the scene for a focus on another fascinating exploration that focuses on Constantine\u2019s stay in Ceylon.\u00a0What coaching efforts did he engage in within the island?<\/strong>\u00a0Many contemporaries and most of those who participated in that match have passed away. But there are a few still around and many young cricketing schoolboys from the year 1953 who could provide information on Constantine\u2019s impact within the island \u2026.. among them Stanley Jayasinghe, Chandra Schaffter, Michael Tissera and Michael Wille.<\/span><\/p>\n

Constantine visited Galle and Kandy as well in his coaching duties; and KK De Silva\u2019s special skills in researching has generated some striking details about his visit to Galle and to St Aloysius College.<\/span><\/p>\n

The results will be presented in a Compendium of Titbits on\u00a0Learie Constantine\u2019s Far-reaching Forays in Promoting Cricket in Ceylon in 1953<\/strong>. I add, here, that this visit was before Learie was knighted by the British Royalty in the year 1962.[4]<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0So,<\/strong>\u00a0my final act is to doff my battered cricketing cap in the direction of his grave\u2026.. and to ask Lord Superior to fashion a \u201cBallad\u201d in his memory.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

ALSO NOTE<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n