Sargo Jayawickreme
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Sagaradaththa Sudirikku Jayawickreme | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 10 January 1911 Galle, Ceylon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 15 February 1983 (aged 72) Colombo, Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium-pace | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 20 September 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sagaradaththa Sudirikku "Sargo" Jayawickreme MBE, also spelled Jayawickrema (10 January 1911 – 15 February 1983) was a cricketer who represented Ceylon in first-class cricket from 1932 to 1950, captaining the team in the 1940s.
Life and career
[edit]A middle-order batsman and medium-pace bowler, Sargo Jayawickreme attended Royal College, Colombo, and played in the Royal–Thomian cricket match four times, captaining Royal College to victory in his final year, 1930.[1] After leaving school he worked in the Rubber Control Department and joined Sinhalese Sports Club.[2]
He was one of the youngest of the Ceylon team that toured India in 1932-33, and was the leading batsman on the tour, with 421 runs at an average of 46.77; he also took 15 wickets at 25.53.[3][4] He began the tour by taking 5 for 58 and 2 for 30 on his first-class debut in the opening match against Sind.[5] He scored 130 in the second of the two matches against India, when he rescued the innings from 86 for 5 to 305 all out.[6] Reporting on the tour in The Cricketer, the Indian journalist I. M. Mansukhani thought Jayawickreme the most impressive of the Ceylonese batsmen, with “a wide and delightful range of strokes”.[7]
Jayawickreme captained Ceylon on its next two tours: to India in 1940-41 and to Pakistan in 1949-50. In the first of the two matches against India in 1940-41 he scored 138 in just over three hours after Ceylon had been 24 for 3.[8]
He was also invited to play several first-class matches in India, including matches for The Rest in the Bombay Pentangular in 1937-38 and 1944–45.[9]
In all cricket he scored 56 centuries.[2] He was awarded the MBE for services to cricket. He and his wife had two daughters.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ "Miscellaneous Matches played by Sargo Jayawickreme". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ a b c Epasinghe, Premasara (26 May 2012). "Sargo Jayawickrema - one of the greatest of batsmen of Ceylon". Daily News. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ "First-class batting and fielding for Ceylon". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ "First-class bowling for Ceylon". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ "Sind v Ceylon 1932-33". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ "India v Ceylon, Delhi 1932-33". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ I. M. Mansukhani, "Ceylon Tour in India", The Cricketer, Spring Annual, 1933, p. 74.
- ^ "Indian XI v Ceylon, Calcutta 1940-41". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ "First-class matches played by Sargo Jayawickreme". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
External links
[edit]- Sargo Jayawickreme at ESPNcricinfo
- Sargo Jayawickreme at CricketArchive (subscription required)