Lest We Forget an Accomplished Sportsman: Wijaya ‘Stanley’ Unamboowe’

Over the years Royal College has produced accomplished sportsmen whose performances had been nothing short of outstanding! One such sportsman is Wijaya ‘Stanley’ Unamboowe`, affectionately named ‘Stanley’ by his father’s European planter friends in his hometown of Kotmale`. Of course, his classmates and very close friends also fondly called him “Bamboo” as well!

Stanley Unamboowe` began his school career at Royal College in 1944 at “Glendale” , Bandarawela, a war-time branch of Royal College. There he established himself as a cricketer with all-round abilities, a soccerite and an athlete. However, it was only after he shifted to the main school in Colombo in 1948 that he really had the opportunity to display his talents in cricket, rugby and athletics. Between 1949 and 1951 he made his mark and won his College colours in all three of these sports and in athletics public schools colours as well.

His prowess as a determined and talented sportsman is well illustrated in the role he played in the 72^nd Royal-Thomian encounter of 1951, which Royal won by 13 runs in one of the closest matches in this venerated series. As writer under the moniker Commentator in an article entitled ‘The Impossible Finish of 1951’ well describes that match: “Even the boldest writer of sports fiction would not have dared to invent such an implausible finish to a cricket match!” In that game Stanley Unamboowe` proved himself to be a sportsman of class and a daring one at that.

With just half an hour to go, a side chasing 191 runs for victory had reached 154 for 3 wickets. Twenty-five minutes later seven Thomian wickets had fallen for a meagre 23 runs and Royal had won! An incredible finish!! Undoubtedly, it was an excellent team effort by Royal, so brilliantly led by skipper T. Vairavanathan, where his team responded magnificently.

But the splendid all-round contribution to that memorable victory by Stanley’ Unamboowe` cannot be easily forgotten. In that match while making a very useful and attractive 31 runs in Royal’s first Innings, he featured in five dismissals in the Thomian second Innings: two crucial catches and two run-outs and a clean bowled, which decisively changed the complexion of that game.

The Thomians were sitting pretty after tea in the final session of the match. The Thomian batsman P.I. Pieris was well on the way with elegant and powerful stroke-play not only to score a half a century but also to steer Thomians towards what seemed to be an obvious Thomian victory. But at 47 he went for a big hit and was firmly caught by Unamboowe`.

It was, as Commentator describes, a tricky catch and Unamboowe`, fielding at cover, realising that the ball was spinning in the air and was greasy had the presence of mind to let the ball hit his chest and simultaneously close his hands over it! Then came the two run-outs. The first was off his own bowling. The batsman Jayalingam pushed him to the off and went for a short single and Unamboowe pounced on the ball in a flash.

Royal 4×100 Relay Team 1949

Realising that the batsman at the other end, Samuel, was well outside the crease and that there was no one at the bowler’s end to receive his throw, he ran with the ball and aimed at the stumps under-arm to beat the batsman to it. It was another crucial dismissal as Samuel was well set at 51 runs!

Soon thereafter Unamboowe` clean bowled Thomian batsman Yatawara. This was followed by another run-out to dismiss Jayalingam who was looking dangerous indeed. Unamboowe` was bowling to Thomian skipper Inman when the Royal skipper Vairavanathan craftily placed himself deliberately at deep mid-off lulling both batsmen into complacency that the field was open on the off for a single. But with the delivery from Unamboowe, while Jayalingam was already backing up, the Royal skipper had stealthily raced in and was ready with the ball in his hand to throw it cleanly over the stumps for Unamboowe` to coolly take the bails off to dismiss Jayalingam for 33!

The second catch, an incredible one, was to dismiss the Thomian skipper Roger Inman off his own bowling. The catch was off a “full-blooded drive that should have hit the sight-screen first hop.” That catch has been described as “a stunning catch that brought the crowd to its feet”. Unamboowe`, who was off-balance after the delivery recovered in a flash and in a daring leap into the air took the red-hot drive firmly in his vertically outstretched left-hand thereby proving that the difference between the impossible and the possible lies in one’s daring and determination!

Royal won that game eventually by 13 runs when he rattled the last Thomian batsman’s stumps. Commentator rightly sums up that match as follows: cricket is a team game, every member of the team pulled his weight, with Unamboowe` magnificent in the last session. And Commentator should know best for he too was a member of that victorious Royal team.

Stanley Unamboowe’s sporting prowess was seen on the rugby field as well. He represented Royal at rugby from 1949-1951 and featured prominently as a wing three-quarter in the Bradby Shield games in those years, particularly in 1951 when Royal romped home in both encounters with record breaking scores (19-03 and 13-05 in the return), under the old scoring system of three points for a try and five points for a goal and three points for a penalty goal.

He also excelled at track events in athletics and was a member of the 1949 Royal 4 x 100yards relay quartet, comprising J.A de Silva, V.K.Gunasekera, Desmond Van Twest and himself, which beat the formidable SJC relay team into second place with a record breaking run in the Public Schools athletics meet held at the Colombo Oval. He left Royal soon after the Bradby shield games in 1951 in pursuit of a planting career under Anglo Ceylon and General Estate Company Ltd, though he could have remained in school and perhaps played another year of cricket and rugby.

He did play a bit of cricket for Dimbulla. But it was really at rugby football that he was able to give full vent to his sporting prowess not only as a wing three-quarter, but also as a fly-half and centre-three as well. In fact, he had represented every rugby playing Club up-country during his planting career, beginning with the Kandy Sports Club. The other clubs he represented were Dimbulla, Dickoya , Uva and KV.In 1963 he led Dimbulla in the Clifford cup Finals vs Havelocks He was also featured in the annual Capper Cup encounters between Up-Country and Low-Country(Colombo Clubs) finally leading the Up-Country team in 1963. Though he had represented Ceylon Barbarians in the All-India Tournaments while playing for up country clubs, in fact, it was in 1963 that he won his National Jersey and was a member of the Ceylon team that beat South India in the finals in the All-India Tournament.

After a long and very successful stint on the plantations, he was back in Colombo in the Head Office of Carson Cumberbatch to manage the estates in Carson’s care. He also visited Malaysia regularly to supervise Oil Palm plantations which were under the management of Carsons, finally ending up as Chairman of Carson’s and, at one time, simultaneously holding the chairmanship of Union Assurance Ltd. (UAL), a leading Insurance company of the day as well. Despite his heavy work load, he also found time to help the Royal rugby coaching effort in 1970 as coach and as coaching coordinator of junior rugby in the late 1990s

His fulfilling career as an accomplished sportsman and a CEO is an outstanding example for youngsters to follow. Now in his 91^st year he still goes for a daily constitutional in the evenings for an hour so, though, quite naturally, not with the same vigour as of yore. Occasionally he displays his talent on the keyboard of the organ, proudly placed in his living room, and at one-time was quite at home simulating air flights on the computer. His one lament is that most his friends have moved on. When this writer met up with him for a very pleasant chat he was sporting a grisly beard. Asked why a beard his response was that he just lets it to grow with an occasional trim! – ULK