Sports

Sebs’ cricket stalwart Cooray retires after more than three decades of service

Published

6 years ago

2021/04/16

by Reemus Fernando

Franklyn Cooray, the former Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association official, retired as the Master in Charge of Cricket of St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa after completing more than three and half decades of yeoman service recently. Franklyn Cooray who was popular in cricket circles as Frank Cooray, was the longest serving team official at the time of his retirement. During his 37 year association with schools cricket, Cooray witnessed the evolution of First XI cricket from mere Traditional matches to present day tournaments of varying divisions and was involved in St. Sebastian’s cricket as a coach and Master in Charge guiding the destiny of many future national cricketers.

Cooray played First XI cricket for St. Sebastian’s from 1962 to 1966 and was among the very few Sebs cricketers of his era to have tasted Big Match success. He captained all age group teams of St. Sebastian’s. After leaving school he worked at the Irrigation Department as a Senior Technical Officer and played in the Government Services ‘A’ Division Cricket tournament until making a premature retirement in 1983.

He was entrusted with the responsibility of training cricketers of St. Sebastian’s in 1984 by Rev. Bro. Nimal Gurusinghe, when coaching was voluntary. Three years later Cooray was included in the tutorial staff by Rev. Bro. Granville Perera. He was the coach cum Master in Charge of St. Sebastian’s from 1987 to 1994 and held the latter position until his retirement this year.

During his tenure as a coach, Cooray provided guidance at different levels to several Sebs who later became household names. Of them Dulip Mendis, Roger Wijesuriya, Susil Fernando, Romesh Kaluwitharana and Sajeewa de Silva went on to play Test cricket. “Kaluwitharana was coached by Brother Gurusinghe before he came under my supervision at senior level,” Cooray recalled in an interview with The Island.

Cooray was the Master in Charge of Cricket when the likes of Prasanna Jayawardena, Dinusha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Amila Aponso, Avishka Fernando and Oshada Fernando learnt their ABC of cricket at St. Sebastian’s.

While being the MIC, Cooray was also entrusted with the responsibility of the curator after a turf wicket was laid at the St. Sebastian’s ground in 1990.

He was selected to SLSCA Executive Committee in 1988 and a year later became the Under-19 tournament secretary, a position he held until 2006. He was among the leading officials of SLSCA who were instrumental in introducing the two-day league tournament and the Under-19 tournament structure with three Divisions. As of late it has undergone many changes.

However he was against introducing the points system that determined winners on first innings points. “That system would promote the culture of playing for trophies. I never encouraged the point system for first innings wins. We gave points only for outright victories. During our time we hardly batted after tea. We would try to score as much as possible in the morning and declared and get the opposition to bat in the afternoon. That way we would try to win outright. That was lost after the points system was introduced,” opined Cooray.

Cooray also lamented the absence of natural stroke play among present day cricketers. “Players going for their natural strokes is something that we are missing greatly these days. You must encourage batsmen to go for their natural strokes,” said Cooray.

He was the Under-19 tournament secretary of the SLSCA at a time when computers were yet be utilized for calculation of points and to make points tables of the league tournaments. Yet as schools cricket reporters would recall he was readily available with a near accurate points table of the tournament at the end of every week during the schools cricket season.

Apart from holding the Under-19 tournament secretary position, Cooray also held the junior national coach position briefly. He was the coach of the Sri Lanka Under-15 side that toured England for the Under-15 Lombard World Challenge.

His contribution to cricket was recognized by the International Cricket Council in 2009 when he was presented with a medal during its Centenary Medals Presentation for Volunteers.

As he steps in to retirement with loads of fond memories from cricket, Cooray thanked former administrators of St. Sebastian’s Rev. Bro. Nimal Gurusinghe and Rev. Bro. Granville Perera, late Rev. Fr. Bonnie Fernandopulle who made it possible for him to take up coaching and cricket administration and coaches including Kanishka Perera who helped during his tenure.

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia could be postponed by a year amid Houthi attacks

Published

4 hours ago

2026/10/16

Priyan

The previous edition of the AFC Asian Cup was held in Qatar in 2024, when the hosts successfully defended their title [Aljazeera]

Football’s Asian Cup, hosted by Saudi Arabia, could be moved back a year to 2028 following a series of attacks on the country by Yemen’s Houthis.

The continental tournament will be rescheduled “if we need to” but the organisers are in “no hurry” to make a decision, Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said on Thursday.

The 2027 Asian Cup is supposed to kick off on January 7 in the Saudi cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and al-Khobar.

The kingdom has in recent days come under sustained attack in a dramatic escalation from the Houthis.

“We can wait until the end of November,” Al Khalifa told reporters in Zurich on Wednesday about a decision on the fate of the Asian Cup.

“Things can change very quickly for better or worse in the region, and it is a question of seeing what happens,” he added.

“If we need to make a decision then we will, but we could move back a year to 2028 if we need to.

“But at the moment we are monitoring the situation and everything is on schedule.”

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr saw their Asian Champions League match delayed by an hour on Monday after Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence said it had intercepted a missile fired towards Riyadh.

Three matches in Saudi domestic football, including one involving Al-Nassr, were postponed this week.

(Aljazeera)

Sports

Look out for Mayon as field event athletes begin action at Diyagama

Published

14 hours ago

2026/10/16

Thilina Walpola

Mayon Rajasinghe

All Island Schools Games Athletics Championships

by Reemus Fernando

‎The Under 18 boys’ shot put meet record will be under severe threat today, when the most talked-about thrower of the last All Island Schools Games Athletics Championships takes to the field on the opening day at Diyagama.

‎Mayon Rajasinghe, now competing for his third school in four years, has shown steady progress this season and appears to be peaking at the right time to attempt another record-breaking performance on the junior circuit.

‎Having recently set a new meet record of 17.31m at the Western Province Schools Games, Mayon will now try to surpass the All Island Schools Games Under 18 record of 17.15m.

‎The first two age-category records in the Games’ shot put event already bear his name. He set the current Under 14 record of 15.13m while representing Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa. Last year, while attending St. Joseph’s College, Darley Road, he shattered the Under 16 meet record with a throw of 18.57m using the 4kg shot. It is the furthest any Sri Lankan has thrown in the Under 16 category at any meet, from the Junior National Championships to the Sir John Tarbat Senior Championships to the Schools Games.

‎Yet the outstanding performance did not receive the recognition it deserved. His father, who also trains him, was adamant that the then 16-year-old deserved the meet’s Best Athlete title. The organisers disagreed, citing the differing weights of implements across age categories as their reason for setting the performance aside. No clear criteria had been announced before the meet, which made such disappointment all but inevitable. Senior Rajasinghe’s outburst after the presentation ceremony, and the social media backlash that followed, have had an effect: the Ministry of Education has now published criteria for selecting the meet’s best athlete. However, it remains doubtful whether the criteria in the competition manual can offer athletes in different age categories and disciplines an equal opportunity to have their performances assessed fairly.

‎This year Mayon represents Holy Cross College, Kalutara. He has picked up where he left off last year, breaking record after record, and is poised to make an impact once again.

‎The championship begins with a card of eight finals. Around 5,000 athletes in the Under 14, 16, 18 and 20 age categories, representing all nine provinces, will take part in the five-day event after qualifying through house, divisional, zonal and provincial competitions.

Sports

57th Annual Saints’ Quadrangular Tournament on Saturday and Sunday

Published

14 hours ago

2026/10/16

Thilina Walpola

The much-anticipated 57th Annual Saints’ Quadrangular Tournament which brings together four of Sri Lanka’s leading Catholic schools, St. Anthony’s College, Kandy, St. Benedict’s College, Colombo 13, St.Joseph’s College, Colombo 10, and St. Peter’s College, Colombo 04, for a weekend of spirited competition, camaraderie and nostalgia is scheduled to take place this weekend (weather permitting).

This year’s tournament is being hosted by the St. Peter’s College Old Boys’ Union (SPCOBU) during its Centenary year, marking 100 years since the Union was founded in 1927. The Centenary celebrates a century of service to the College and the Peterite community, under the theme “Honouring the Past, Strengthening the Present, Inspiring the Peterite of Tomorrow.”

The origins of the ‘Saints Quadrangular Tournament’ trace back to 1963, during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of St. Benedict’s College. An open invitation was extended to schools across the country for a cricket tournament, and coincidentally, only the above three premier Catholic institutions joined

What began as a two-day cricket encounter has evolved into a multi-sport carnival that continues to embody the true spirit of sportsmanship and fraternity.

In 2002, the organizers introduced a 25-over Cricket Tournament for players aged 40 and above, allowing past cricketers to once again represent their beloved alma mater. Two years later, in 2004, Basketball was added to the lineup, enriching the event further given the strong basketball heritage of the four schools.

Continuing its evolution, 7-a-side Rugby was introduced in 2014, transforming the Saints’ Quadrangular into a vibrant sports carnival that now features three major sports across four tournaments namely Cricket, over 40 Cricket, Basketball, and Rugby.