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Books

Two schools: How they played the game
"The History of Royal- S. Thomas’ cricket match- 125" was launch-ed on November 6.
This is the second time in the history of the two institutions that a publication of this nature has been organized jointly by the Old Boys’ Associations. The first was the Centenary History published in March 1979 which has been included as Part I in the present edition.

The book, which runs into 300 glossy pages, contains contributions from former captains and distinguished players in the series. In Part I, on the Royal side, are an interview with Sir John Kotelawala recalling his cricketing days in 1914 and articles by F.R. de Zoysa and D.W.L. Lieversz (Snr.) covering their respective cricketing periods. There are vivid descriptions of the 1916 and 1925 matches by Sumedha Robert and President J.R. Jayewardene respectively.

There is also an interview with N. Kandiah who led Royal to a thrilling victory in the Jubilee Match of 1929. F.C. de Saram discloses The Litte Known Facts of the Match while The Impossible Finish of 1951 is aptly written by the Commentator. Vijaya Malalasekera recounts his experiences on the 1962 match.

On the Thomian side in Part I among those who have contributed fascinatingly nostalgic articles are Jackson Smith on the 1913 match, former captains Rev. A.E. Crowther, P.B. Bulankulame, A. Lankatilleke, C.E.L. (Kalla) de Silva and Rudolph Jayatilleke reminiscing on their respective cricketing encounters. R.B. Wijesinha writing on a Hundred Unbroken Years, a former All Ceylon Michael Tissera reminiscing on his years 1954-1958 and Premalal Goonesekere recalling the circumstances that brought about the 8-wicket victory to the Thomians whom he led in 1964 and "The Champagne Innings of Duleep Mendis in 1972" are among the several other contributions to ‘The History’.

Among the articles that are reproduced from previous publications dealing with the Royal-Thomian are C.O. Siebel's "Impression of the Great Game - the First Match of 1880", Edmund de Livera on the Big Match of 1892, F.L. Goonewardene's "Some Famous Thomian Cricketers of My Time - 1893-1899" and Frank Ondatjie's "My School Day Impressions". It includes poems of champions of Light Verse by Archdeacon De Winton at the 1920 Big Match, "Lines on the Royal-Thomian Match" by Major H.L. Reed, L.W. de Silva's "Grande Certamen" with an English translation paying a tribute to Normal Siebel's record-breaking innings of 151 not out in 1936 and the Royal-Thomian Tradition by Mervyn Casie Chetty. There is a parody by Gallinago on the Match of 1953.

In Part II, among those who share their reminiscences are Pradeep Kariyawasam in an article with an apt title "So near and yet so far" and Mahinda Halangoda in an article with an equally apt title "Thomians are never dead till they are buried" on the centenary match.

Anura Bulankulame writes of "The day Royalists sang the Thomian Song" recalling the innings victory of the Thomians in the 109th Encounter. Others who have contributed are Chulaka Amarasinghe and Udaya Wijesena who led the Royalists to victory in 1983 and 1990 respectively and Ganganath Ratnayake on the Royal side whilst Naren Ratwatte, who piloted the Thomian victory in 1999 and Arjuna Rajawasan with his article titled "In unwavering pursuit of the Gold in 2002" complete the story on the Thomian side. William Jayetileke, the oldest living Thomian Captain in the series who scored 110 not out in the second innings of the match in 1937 and won the game for the Thomians recalls the "Royal-Thomian Spirit in the unbroken 125 years".

A noteworthy feature of ‘The History’ is that Parts I and II contain the score cards of the 124 matches from 1880 to 2003 whilst Part III contains statistics updated to 2003. ‘The History’ was compiled by Nihal H. Gunaratna, C.H. Gunasekera, D.L. de Saram and M.L. Fernando. Priced at Rs. 1,000 it will be available for sale at STC OBA Secretariat at Mount Lavinia and at the Royal College Union Secretariat.

Gender guide in Sinhala
By Lakmali Jayasinghe
The Sinhala translation of "A Quick Guide to Gender Mainstreaming in the Public Service" by Vajira Pathirana was launched on November 4. The event was held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute under the patronage of the High Commissioner for Canada, Valerie Raymond.

The Commonwealth Secretariat published the original book in 1996 with the view of ensuring gender mainstreaming in the public service. Women's participation in the public sphere in selected Commonwealth countries including Sri Lanka is discussed in the book. "Gender equality and equity are currently in focus and thus the translation of this book is very appropriate," said Secretary, Ministry of Women's Affairs, Lalitha Dissanayake who was present at the event.

The book explains what a GMS or Gender Management System is-a comprehensive network of structures, mechanisms and processes to bring a gender perspective to bear in the mainstreaming of all government policies, programmes and projects.

This guide is only part of a series of books on this topic. The book provides specific guidelines for gender mainstreaming and is ideal for those working towards integrating gender in all government sectors.

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