Hugh Karunanayake
“Oft in the stilly night
Ere slumber’s chains has bound me
Fond memory brings the light
Of other days around me
The smiles, the tears,
Of boyhood years”
The Royal Thomian match of 1951 will for long be remembered for its nail-biting finish, and for the manner in which the Royal College team led by skipper T. Vairavanathan extracted a victory from the jaws of defeat. It will certainly occupy a top position in the history of the series, the second oldest school cricket encounter in the world, (the first game being played in 1880).
