Bertrum Wijesinha, also spelled Wijesinghe (24 May 1920 – 8 April 2017) was a

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

who played 17 matches of

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

between 1947 and 1956.

Life and working career

Bertie Wijesinha was educated at

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

, where he was a prominent cricketer. After leaving school, he taught English at S. Thomas' College and coached the cricket team. In 1949 he married Dorothy Weerekoon; they celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary just before he died. Also in 1949 he joined the Lake House newspaper group where he ended up as the sports editor of the ''

Sunday Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. He served as sports editor of the ''Sunday Observer'' from 1953 to 1972, and coached the cricket team at

Trinity College, Kandy Trinity College, Kandy is a private Anglican boys' school located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It offers both day and boarding facilities. It was founded in 1872 by British Anglican missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, modelled on Britis ...

, from 1971 to 1976. He then moved to the United Kingdom, where he worked for 10 years as a clerk for the

Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families. It runs c ...

. He provided radio commentaries for cricket matches in Sri Lanka for many years, including international matches and the annual

Royal–Thomian The Battle of the Blues (Also known as Royal–Thomian Cricket Encounter) is an annual Big Match in Sri Lanka played between Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia since 1879. It is known as ''The Battle of the Blues'' ...

inter-school match. He formed a long-lasting on-air partnership with his former Ceylon team-mate Lucien de Zoysa.

Cricket career

In Ceylon's innings loss to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

in April 1949, Wijesinha was Ceylon's highest scorer with 29 and 12, and took 5 for 105, dismissing Pakistan's first five batsmen. On Ceylon's tour of Pakistan the next season he was Ceylon's top-scorer in the first first-class match, an innings loss to Karachi and Sind, scoring 13 not out and 57. Later in the tour he took his best bowling figures, 5 for 59, in the drawn match against Pakistan Universities. He played all his club cricket for

Sinhalese Sports Club The Sinhalese people, Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) was a first-class cricket club in Colombo, Sri Lanka till 2025 when they were relegated after enduring a horrendous 2024-25 version of the Major Club 3 day tournament in which they could only m ...

. He coached several players who went on to represent Sri Lanka, including

Anura Tennekoon Anura Tennekoon also spelt as Anura Tennakoon (born 29 October 1946) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He was educated at the S. Thomas' College in Mount Lavinia. After captaining the school ...

and the brothers

Sunil Sunil (सुनील) is a first name for males, often found in the South Asian community. The Sanskrit word ' means "dark", "very blue", and is also an epithet of Krishna. Notable people * Sunil (actor), Indian Telugu film actor * Sunil ( ...

Mithra Mithra ( ; ) is an ancient Iranian deity ('' yazata'') of covenants, light, oaths, justice, the Sun, contracts, and friendship. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth ( ...

and

Sidath Wettimuny Sidath Wettimuny is a Sri Lankan former cricketer, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as an opening batsman from 1982 to 1987. Wettimuny was a typical 1980s opening batsman in that he often played very defensively, grafting for ...

. The father of the Wettimuny brothers built Sri Lanka's first indoor cricket nets, then handed them over to Wijesinha on the condition that he coach his sons. Wijesinha published a book, ''Love of a Lifetime'', in 2004, combining his cricket memoirs and Sri Lankan cricket history.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wijesinha, Bertie 1920 births 2017 deaths Sri Lankan cricketers All-Ceylon cricketers Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Sinhalese Sports Club cricketers Sri Lankan cricket coaches Sri Lankan cricket commentators Sri Lankan journalists Cricketers from Kalutara