Cyril Ernest calls it a day- (photo taken at 50th Reunion in Sri Lanka 2012)
The term legend has been used to describe
many people, sometimes questionably, but I have no hesitation applying the term
to Cyril for his high quality all-round achievements in so many fields.
Just to summarise his amazing sporting career,
Cyril represented St. Benedict's College (he
went there from St Mary’s College, Negombo) with distinction in cricket,
hockey, athletics and tennis in the late 1950s and early 1960s. An excellent
all-rounder in cricket he opened batting with Ranjit Fernando He was a brilliant fielder at close leg
position, at a time when helmets and other safety gear were unheard of. He was
also a very useful off-spin bowler. He was described as a hard-hitting right-hand opening batsman in the mould of Gordon Greenidge of the West Indies, a
right-arm off-spinner of the likes of England’s Jim Laker and Windies Lance
Gibbs, a close-in fielder like Australia’s Bobby Simpson. He represented the
College in Combined Schools' cricket teams. He also took part in Public Schools
Athletic Meets and Public Schools Tennis Championships.
He continued to support his old school and has
been a great benefactor of the College and has supported many infrastructure
development projects and helped SBC at cricket and athletics. In fact, the
Bowling Machine presently used by the Benedictine cricketers was donated by him.
He was the chief guest of the St. Benedict's College Prize Giving in 2017 at
the College premises attended by his wife Indrani and daughters Cheryl and
Melanie.
He entered the Medical Faculty in 1961 and
had a distinguished sporting career at the University of Ceylon. He represented
the University in Sara Trophy cricket as an all-rounder from 1961-67 and
captained the team in his final year. He also captained the University cricket
team on tour to the All-India Inter-University cricket tournament, 1966,
Bangalore, India. He represented the University hockey team in the Pioneer and
Andriesz Shield tournaments.
After joining Royal Ceylon Air Force as a medical doctor, he
captained the Air Force cricket team, the Adastrians and also played hockey. He
was a regular member of the Ceylon Government Services cricket team in the
Robert Senanayake Pentangular tournament, which became the national champions
in 1969. He toured India with the Government Services side and played for the
Government Services cricket team in their fixture against Joe Lister's
International team in 1969. He first played for the Ceylon national team
against the MCC in 1969. He also represented the Ceylon Cricket Association
team in the annual Gopalan Trophy encounter versus Madras. He was selected for
the Ceylon team to tour Pakistan in 1971, which was unfortunately cancelled due
to the Bangladesh problem.
In the USA, he played for the USA cricket team in the Associate Members World Cup in Birmingham, England in 1982. He was manager of the USA cricket team 1995-96 and was chairman of the selection committee 1995-96. He, therefore, has the rare distinction of playing for the national cricket teams of two countries, his homeland Sri Lanka and the USA.
Cyril was a keen long distance runner,
running four marathons (Honolulu twice 1985-1986, Los Angeles 1987 and Beijing
1995) and numerous 5k and 10k races. He is also a Black Belt in
Taekwondo/Karate.
He achieved all these sporting accomplishments while being a top
consultant physician and cardiologist and a medical administrator. He
specialised in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease. He is a Fellow
American College of Cardiology (FACC)-1985, Fellow American College of Chest
Physicians (FCCP)-1985 and Fellow American College of Physicians (FCAP)-1990.
He held the position of president Los Angeles County Medical Association 1984
and from 1982 to 1986, served in the Los Angeles County Medical Association
Board of Governors.
I am sure my colleagues will join me in wishing Cyril a very long, happy and enjoyable retirement indulging in so many things he had little time for in his busy working life. He is blessed with his loving wife Indrani who I am sure will make ensure that he does so.
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I am certainly proud to be in the 1962 group of budding doctors, nurtured by a highly talented lectures and Professors of that era. There were a few who were multi-talented and we have seen some of them already in our blog. It seems that Cyril had exceeded beyond expectations. You have brought honours to Sri Lanka with your sporting skills. I doubt whether you could have achieved your cardiology skills, if you were to remain patriotic. Wish you well and a happy retirement from your busy hospital life.
ReplyDeleteSumathi
Dear Cyril
ReplyDeleteMany congratulation on your epic professional contribution to society over so many years. I hope this will mean you will be able to maintain closer contact with the batch and the blog.
I wish you a long and happy retirement. May God be with you in your onward journey.
Dear Cyril,
ReplyDeleteYou are such a modest guy! I only knew about your cricketing skills all this time! Reading about all your accomplishments was really heartwarming. All those marathons and the blackbelt in Taekwondo/Karate; really impressive! I hope you will continue to stay active and healthy, and be able to enjoy your time in retirement. I hope we will cross paths again in Colombo in the near future, as we were able to do 'Pre-Covid.' Many blessings to you, Indrani and your family. All the best. Srianee
Dear Cyril
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with Srianee,you are a modest guy,I was aware of your achievements in cricket but not about marathons,karate etc.During your time If you were a Thomian or Royalist you may have played cricket for Sri Lanka much earlier.
Whilst awaiting the results of the finals in April/May 1967, our batch mates arranged a few friendly soft ball cricket matches at Campbell Park and I remember facing your vicious off spinners on an uneven surface. Senarath also played ,being an old boy of Wesley, Nihal may have organised the ground for us.
Congratulations on a wonderful career,happy retirement.
Cyril, congratulations for your excellent achievements on the sporting fields. I remember you taking about 4 wickets in a match against the MCC at the Oval in the 1960s. I think your scalps included, Collin Cowdrey, Tom Graveney and AN Other
ReplyDeleteWas it Ted Dexter or Bill Edrich as well?
ReplyDeleteHi Cyril and Bora
ReplyDeleteI cannot recall the cricket on that occasion but remember organising the Campbell Park for many matches for medics over the years together with Derryck De Silva.
I have reminisced with Cyril an epic game Royal vs St Benedicts perhaps in 1960/61 played at Reid Avenue. Despite a swashbuckling 89 by Quintus Perera for Bens with 5 sixes and 10 fours. Royal won by 28 runs not without some tachycardia and ectopic beats for players and spectators alike. Cyril took 5 for 32 and Harsha Samarajiwa 4 for 41. This was one of the finest games of cricket I have watched played in the best spirit of the game. Royalists were humble in victory and Bens gracious in defeat.
I watched England Vs India at Lords this summer. It was more a medieval battle than a game played by gentleman.
In addition to being impressed by Cyril's achievements, on and off the cricket field (pitch?) I am truly impressed by Nihal, Sanath, and everyone about your ability to remember the details of particular cricket matches!
ReplyDeleteHihal, I was amused at your description of the India vs. England as a 'medieval battle.' (What happened?) I had just communicated with Cyril vial email suggesting that he could consider promoting cricket in the US as a retirement activity, because America needs a 'civilized' sport such as cricket!
Srianee
DeleteI grew up in a peaceful Sri Lanka like we all did. Every aspect of life had a certain calmness and it showed in the cricket field. Umpires word was greatly respected. Now cricket is big money and big business. Losing a game is money lost which amounts to more than lost prestige. The cricketers are paid huge sums as wages and if they dont perform as expected they lose their places in the team. They lose their jobs. Teams want to win at any cost and in the field intimidate opponents verbally. They are disrespectful to the umpires and near enough it becomes a free for all in the pitch. It is more of a medieval battle with 11 players going for the kill on a hapless batsman and the weapon is a canon ball. I know it is a bit of an exaggeration but close enough to the real thing.
The umpires turn a blind eye to the bad blood that prevails on the pitch much of the time. It seems at the end of the game the cricket authorities wants the players view of the umpires performance. Umpiring too is a job and so they depend on the goodwill of the players to keep their jobs and are far too scared of the players to be hard on them during the game. This makes the pitch battle a free for all.
I must confess I have moved with the times and have learnt to enjoy the battle. When fuelled with quality Champagne, the way we played the game back home feels far too tame. These medieval battles are a far better reflection of the world today. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Bora, I do recall the Holding - Willey joke which is really funny because it is true! you have probably heard this derogatory comment on English cricket-
DeleteWhat is the main function of the English cricket coach?
To transport the team from the hotel to the ground.
Digressing a bit, I have always been curious about cricket idioms that have crept into the English language. Many people use them, but are completely unaware of the origins. I can think of just a few at the moment, and I hope my friends can add to the list
ReplyDelete1) Sticky wicket
2) Bowled over
3) It is "simply not cricket."
4) Someone "Had a good innings."
6) To hit someone for a six.
7) To be stumped.
what about the term out for a duck.(out for no runs)
Deleteto see the back of a player(see the person out).English commentators used this term very often. I remember the commentators were using the term, when England could not get rid of veteran batsmen like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
Hi Sumathi
DeleteCricket commentaries can be amusing at times.
At the beginning of an over the commentator usually mentions the bowlers name and the batsmans name,for example, the bowler is Murali the batsmans Atherton.When England were playing the West Indies,Michael Holding started to bowl an over to Peter Willey.The commentary went as follows "The bowler is Holding the batsmans Willey."
Srianee. Cricektfileding poistions always amused me. I felt that silly mid off and silly mid on are good terms as what else can you call a person who is silly enough to stand so close the the batsman? But short leg may be a tall chap with long legs OR he may be of average size but with a short leg (congenital or acquired). Perfectly sensible to have 1, 2 and 3rd slips, just in case the first slip, "slips" and have back ups. Going back to legs cricket displays tolerance for leg types - short leg, square leg, fine leg, deep square leg and so on.
DeleteMahen, that is really witty! I actually learned those fielding positions at some point in my life when I was living in Sri Lanka and watched more cricket than I do now. No wonder the Americans find cricket completely baffling. I have attempted to explain the game to a few friends, but they are stumped!
DeleteNihal, I remember the match against SBC at Reid Avenue and Quintus Perera's whirlwind innings very well. I used to witness inter-school cricket matches very regularly, from 1954 onwards, after entering RC from RPS. Since 1954, I had not missed a single Royal -Thomian cricket match, unless I was out of the country (in 1997, I came from England to watch it). We used to travel in Old-Crocks, parading the streets in fancy dress. Sidat Jayanetti used to play the piano accordion. After a particular incident in the 1950s, when some of the boys entered Ladies College and planted flower pots on the tennis courts, Ladies College used to declare a half-holiday on that Friday. From 1958 onwards, I used to cycle all the way to Kotahena, Campbell Place,, Campbell Park and Bambalapitiya . to witness the "away "matches. Few times I had witnessed the match against Trinity College, at Asgiriya.
ReplyDeleteI remember the refrain at Kotahena very well-"St. Benedicts Kollo Wasai, Yakada Polla, Thekata Kadai"!
From the 1960s. those of us who belonged to the "54 Group, used to meet on the Friday night of the Royal-Thomian match. Later, with advancing age and the problems of night-driving, it was changed to a lunch on the following Sunday. When we reached 75 years, we had a grand event with many participants from overseas.
Sanath
DeleteSo lovely to hear from you and to see you online again. Take care my friend and be with us as we need you more than ever.
Yes we have discussed this game before on many fronts as you are such an ardent fan and a spectator of long standing. Cricket mirrors real life so much of winning and losing and listening and depending on good fortune and lady luck. We have learnt to be vary of the bowlers, dodge the yorkers and hit the loose balls over the ropes.
“For when the One Great Scorer
comes to mark against your name,
He writes not that you won or lost,
but how you played the game!”
– Grantland Rice
Welcome back Sanath. Glad that all went well. I knew you were an avid cricket fan. Did you play serious cricket? You would have made an excellent short leg in fielding!
DeleteCOMMENT FROM CYRIL
ReplyDeleteDear Speedy,
Could you please convey my thanks to Sumathipala for his message of congratulations on my retirement.
We all associate Cyril Ernest for his cricket for which he excelled playing for his school, university and country. He excelled professionally too as we read the list of achievements. I remember and applaud him most of all for his humility and modesty despite his many achievements which is such a rare trait nowadays. Well done my friend. May God Bless you.
ReplyDeleteCOMMENT FROM KUMAR G- PAET 1
ReplyDeleteCYRIL ERNEST; THE FRIEND , THE MAN
“ A good friend is like a four leaf clover; hard to find and lucky to have.”
Irish Proverb
( Christian legend has it that Eve stashed a four leaf clover when expelled from Paradise, as a remembrance of how beautiful and wonderful Paradise was.)
I had planned for quite some time to write this accolade, but was propelled into action, by the news of Cyril’s retirement.
We first met on the green fields of the St Benedict’s college ; the first cricket match for us of the 1960 cricket season. STC was captained by Lareef Idroos. We were the underdogs, with only two coloursmen and ten freshers. Still we won. Our mutual friend Mano Ponniah has reminded me , many a time how I caught Cyril out in both innings behind the stumps. He opened batting with Ranjit Fernando; they both went onto play for Ceylon.
Cyril was a favourite of the partisan populace of Kotahena and they voiced their displeasure at his dismissal time and again. Each time , I went through the stumping motions ,when receiving an outfield throw, there were loud boos.Their language too was colourful but not profane. The chants of ‘Ara okata ara, patiya uding ara ( smash him ,smash him over the ropes), must have been unnerving to our bowlers.
My cricketing career was as brief and unremarkable as Cyril’s was long and glittering. He excelled in other sports too and these have been well documented in Mahen’s article.
We were roommates at the Bloemfontein, for a few months during our final year at Medical School. He was placid but serious about his studies and so was I after after a brief period of profligacy. We burnt the midnight oil poring over tedious texts and scribbled lecture notes; each at his solitary desk, in the darkness of the night illumined by a single desk lamp, oblivious to the cacophony of the cicadas and the flash of the fireflies outside. We shared many things, but not his mysterious disappearances , some weekends. Only much later did I learn that he was visiting the love of his life , Indrani a fellow medical student at Peradeniya.
I was aware that he shone in many sports, but neither then nor later, did he ever boast of his triumphs. Rightly, has it been said that fullness is always quiet.
We met just the once during our internship at the Castle Street Hospital where he was.Serendipitously or maybe wittingly, I also met a ‘ couer palpitor’; Cyril after a few minutes disappeared discreetly.
Twenty one years were to pass before we met again. I had come to Los Angeles to do an advanced fellowship in echocardiography with Tony Chandraratne, perhaps the most eminent academic cardiologist that SriLanka has produced. Cyril was a cardiologist well established in private practice in Lancaster a city just north of Los Angeles.
COMMENT FRON KUMAR G - PART 2
ReplyDeleteHe somehow found the hotel where I was staying and took me one weekend to his beautiful home in Encino, the suburb where Michael Jackson too lived.
Thereafter till Kanthi arrived he, Indrani and their two lovely daughters Cheryl and Melanie hosted me every weekend he was off. I recall two things from that first visit. Firstly, the caution not to open the windows or doors in my room as that would trigger a burglar alarm and an armed response.Secondly that they had the biggest TV I had seen up-to then. Indrani was a gourmet cook and I was well fed. There were many mundane things to attend to pending Kanthi’s arrival. Renting an apartment, and since all were unfurnished , leasing the chattels to make it habitable. In all these they were a tower of strength. But there were fun moments too. One I remember is the visit to an orange grove in the outskirts of the city owned by one of their friends; a tour of the garden followed by a barbecue.
Even after Kanthi joined me their hospitality continued unabated. There were functions to introduce us to medical school colleagues and also distinguished cardiologists. I remember in particular the chief of the coronary care unit of the Ceders-Sinai medical centre. Cyril was keen for me to do an attachment with him , but for a variety of reasons I missed out.
There were tough times too. Kanthi was stricken one day with a severe upper abdominal pain. Surmising the source to be the gallbladder , I was prepared for her to the fate of surgery. Cyril and Indrani took us to their rooms, got the necessary investigations done and consulted with their surgical colleague Tom Mahendran another of our juniors. Fortunately it was an intestinal colic.
In those pre-blog, pre mega -reunion days , camaraderie beyond one’s immediate circle was not very evident. It was only Cyril and Indrani , Chitta, Lareef and Nabila, Gamini and Sirima Hethumuni and Sabitha Illangakoon from the immediate junior year who made our stay so pleasant and delightful. Another Colombo graduate Dr Lakshman Makandura who was working with Tony Chandraratne was like a brother to us.
The days rolled onto weeks and months and it was soon time to leave.The farewells were sad. We spent the last night with Gamini and Sirima who lived in the adjoining suburb of San Marino; Lakshman and Sabitha accompanied us to the airport. Sabitha, to dispel our gloom kept relating outrageously funny stories.
In January 2020 Bora ,Cyril and I spent an engaging afternoon in the luxurious Anantara resort in Tangalle. Lazing on deck chairs , in the shade of tall coconut palms denuded of nuts, with the breezes of the Indian Ocean cooling us we talked and laughed. Cricketing yarns , the good old days and of men and matters ; but once again nothing about his own undoubted achievements. We only broke up to be on time , for Lareef’s daughter Sabrina’s wedding. The ceremony was in view of the ocean and the setting sun and the reception in the magnificent old Walauwa.
“ In the sweetness of friendship,
let there be laughter , and sharing of pleasures,
For in the dew of little things,
The heart finds its morning and is refreshed “
Khalil Gibran
The lovely photo of the Ernest family added to the post was sent by Kumar Gunawardane.
ReplyDeleteKanthi is between Cyril and Indrani. On the extreme right is their elder daughter Cheryl. This was taken at their lovely house in Encino.
DeleteKumar
Kumar, thank you for sharing with us these lovely memories of your time with friends, in your own inimitable style! Hope to see more of you here!
ReplyDeleteMahendra, although I am an ardent cricket fan, I was not talented enough to progress beyond playing French Cricket under the shade of the Tamarind tree at Reid Avenue! Therefore I could not score a century in cricket but I am determined to do so with my life!
ReplyDeleteOn Monday the 4th of October 2021, I had my aortic valve replaced via open heart surgery at the Asiri Central Hospital. I was extremely happy that the CT surgeon, Ajith Karunaratne, the Anaesthetist, Chrysantha Mendis and the Cardiologist, Chandrike Ponnamperuma, all three of them, were my former students from the Colombo Medical Faculty. Yesterday, a pacemaker was inserted by Asanga Dunuwille. I am posting this from the CCU of the Asiri Central hospital and hopefully would be sent home today, in time to watch our opening qualifying match against Namibia at 19.30 hours.
Kumar's two comments have now been incorporated into one article and now appears as the next post on the Blog.
ReplyDeleteCyril
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether you can remember me. I am Chirasi Mallawaratchi now Jayaweera Bandara. Sorry I couldn't visit the Blog these days.
Let me congratulate you on your many achievements in Cricket, Marathon,Hocky and Karate. Well done ! You should be proud being a Consultant Physician and Cardiologist to achieve all these.
Here's wishing you Happy retirement and wish you all the best.
Chira