STC CAROL SERVICE 2010 - Festival Carols and Nine Lessons 

Date – 27th Nov 2010
Venue – St John’s Cathedral Parramatta 
Time – 6.30 pm

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Blue Black and Blue Ball 2010

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Blue Black & Blue Ball 2009
30th May 2009

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Sydney Royal - Thomian
cricket match
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“String Hopper Biriyani Nite”
Photos
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Over 50's Cricket Match photos
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By Pulasthi Samaraweera

Thomians know how to party!

“The THOMIAN SPIRIT will never die. It is the Spirit of Unity, Brotherhood, Fellowship, Love, Loyalty to the Truth, Purity and all those things which make Men & Gentlemen. It is that Spirit that keeps the College alive”- Rev. M Bilimoria -

Keep the college alive is exactly what the Thomians did when they threw arguably “THE PARTY” of the season on Saturday.

The S.Thomas’ College OBA in NSW held their annual dinner dance on Saturday 5th June at The Epping Club. Weather kept fine which preempted and set the mood for the evening. The Thomians kept the 159 year old school alive by taking the guests down a wonderful memory lane through an emotional opening presentation of the great school by the sea.

The guests who were welcomed and served with canapés and cocktails at the foyer were then introduced to “Wonderbrass” – the 9 piece band that amazingly got the crowd on the dance floor before they could even finish their 2nd song of the night.

President Richie De Silva graced the occasion by welcoming Thomians and their guests with yet another stellar speech and thanking his hardworking committee for their passion and commitment for raising the bar on the night.

The serving staff at The Epping Club was left jobless for a good part of the evening simply because they could not find anyone to serve as 90% of the guests were found on the dance floor!
A hearty 3 course dinner was served to the lovely guests while our very own DJ Neil took over the proceedings.
The crowd was on the dance floor yet again after dinner when Wonderbrass gave them a night to remember.

The college song was proudly sung by the Thomians with the support of Wonderbrass who chipped in with the background music.

Thomians young and old, their friends and few loyal Royalists who supported the Thomian cause for the evening were seen mixing and mingling and having a good time. There were few concerns over ticket prices etc earlier on but you could not find a single long face in the hall that evening where everyone clearly got their money’s worth.

The night ended with a session of traditional Lankan ‘Baila’ from DJ Neil who gave the crowd a good final workout.

The Thomian committee have certainly raised the bar this time and set a standard for others to follow. For what it is worth they have stood by the great words in their college song “Be it work, or be it play, we will do and dare. To the College therefore sing, for all we have and are.”

The Thomians and their friends who could not make it to the dance this year have truly missed a night that only someone who was present on the night can imagine….

Esto Pepertua
     
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By Pulasthi Samaraweera

So close yet so far…

Michael Jordon once said “ Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen ”

The 11 th annual cricket encounter organized by the NSW OBA arms of Royal & S. Thomas' was held on Sunday 11 th April at Jones Park , Parramatta . Both teams wanted it to happen… the Thomian supporters whished it would happen….but in the end it was the gutsy Royalists who made it happen by beating the strong Thomian outfit buy a single run.

On a day the Sydney weather decided to stay put and let the sun do the talking, Royal skipper Ruwan Weerakoon beat his Thomian counterpart Gimantha Jayasinghe at the toss and decided to take the first use of the Jones Park wicket. But the royalists soon found the runs hard to get as the Thomians restricted them to 14/1 after 5 overs.

Yatheesh Ruban (2) fell early to Anuk Silva making way for Lalin De Silva to join Harshana Ariyarathne. Lalin was looking dangerous from the word go, but fell to a brilliant catch off the bowling of Richie De Silva for 18. The Royal skipper joined Ariyarathne and took the score to 51 before Ariyarathne departed for 14. Ruwan himself managed only 13 before falling to Niranjan Sundaranathan when the total was 69.

Royal soon found themselves in trouble loosing the next 4 wickets for just 30 runs with Ruwan Gunasinghe capturing 3/22. Vineetha Rajakaruna (18n/o) and D.De Silva (15) resurrected the Royal innings before De Silva fell when the score was 135. D.De Livera (9) joined Rajakaruna and added a further 20 runs for the last wicket.

Royal finally ended their innings at 155 with a huge boost from the Thomians who helped the Ried avenue boys with 40 extras which included 32 wides!

After the lunch break the Thomians started chasing their third consecutive victory in the series. Both their openers Anthony Abeynayake (0) & Umesh Paramasivam (7) were back for an early tea when the score was just 16. The Thoras found the “Curry Leaf Lampri” they had for lunch a bit too heavy when skipper Gimantha Jayasinghe (8) & Richie De Silva (9) joined the tea party when the score was just 50.

The Thomians then called upon Denham Williams and Anuk Silva to take it up to the Royalists. The two youngsters did just that with a superb 46 run partnership before Anuk fell for 12. Jeewa Paski joined Williams and hammered two towering sixers before hurrying back to finish his beer.

When it looked like Williams was bringing it home for the Thomians, a controversial decision by the umpire saw him bringing nothing but himself back to the pavilion. The score read 136/7. His well compiled (and almost match winning) 60 earned him the best batsman award.

With just 20 runs to get in 10 overs, the thoras were still confident of victory. But when man of the match Vineetha Rajakaruna took the wicket of Niranjan Sundaranathan the complexion of the game dramatically changed in favor of Royal.

Duke Ramachandran (3n/o) walked in as the last man to join Ruwan Fernando when the score was 147/9. Runs were drying up for the Thomians before Ruwan (5) got one passed the in-field to pull the game towards S.Thomas' again.

The Thomians had only 2 runs to win with 2 overs remaining when Ruwan Fernando fell to a superb delivery leaving the Thomians gutted and the royalist jubilant off a 1 run victory.

Without a doubt the lads from Ried Avenue will talk about this win for many years to come as the “little gift of fellowship” on their 175 th anniversary from the school by the sea, while the Thomians will always remember this as the one (run) that got away…

Special appreciation should go to all the fellow Royalists, Thomians and their families and friends who graced the event.

A fun filled day with old friends from the two schools was ended with the presentation of the following awards.

Man of the Match: Vineetha Rajakaruna ( RC )
Best Batsman: Denham Williams ( STC )
Best Bowler: Ruwan Gunasinghe ( STC )
Best Fielder: Ruwan Weerakoon ( RC )

Chief Scores

Royal College 155 all out in 39 overs.

H.Ariyaratne 14, Y Ruban 2, L De Silva 18, R Weerakoon 13, D Gunewardane 12, P Chelliah 8, R Wijesekara 2, S Algama 4, D De Silva 15, V Rajakaruna 18n/o, D De Livera 09, Extras 40

Ruwan Gunasinghe 3/22, Niranjan Sundaranathan 2/13, Anuk Silva 2/37, Richie De Silva 1/27, D Williams 1/24, A Abeinayake 1/15
 
STC 154 all out in 38.2 overs

U Paramasivam 7, A Abeinayake 0, D Williams 60, G Jayasinghe 8, R De Silva 9, A Silva 12, J Paski 14, R Gunasinghe 4, N Sundaranathan 7, R Fernando 5, D Ramachandran 3n/0

H Ariyaratne 3 wkts, V Rajakaruna 2 wkts, R Weerakoon 2 wkts, D Livera 1 wkt, R Wijesekara 2 wkts

Teams

STC :

Gimantha Jayasinghe(capt), Umesh Paramasivam, Anthony Abeinayake, Denham Williams, Ricjie De Silva, Anuk Silva, Jeewa Paski, Ruwan Gunasinghe, Ruwan Fernando, Duke Ramachandran, Niranjan Sundaranathan,

RC :

Ruwan Weerakoon(capt), H Ariyaratne, Yatheesh Ruban, Lalin De Silva, D Gunewardane, P Chelliah, R Wijesekara, S, Algama, D De Silva, Vineetha Rajakaruna, D De Livera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

They learnt and made the Thoras depart…

 By Pulasthi Samaraweera

Disce Aut Discede - Learn or Depart – The motto was first mentioned during the regime of Principal Todd (1871-1878) who constantly reminded the lads from Ried Avenue that they must learn or get out. But it took them 3 years to learn from their mistakes and finally depart a handsome bunch of gutsy 50 year old Thomians to lift the Morrell memorial shield for the first time in the series at the Fred Caterson Reserve in Castle Hill, Sydney.

St Thomas College NSW OBA lost to Royal College NSW OBA in the “Sydney Royal-Thomian over 50s” annual cricket encounter by 15 runs on Sunday 21st March 2010

Royal skipper Prasanna Kariyawasam (famously known as “Kari” among the NSW Lankans) won the toss and thought the Thora’s should get the first use of the Sydney morning sun. While the Thomians were getting an uninvited tan, Kari decided to take an early shower letting P. Selvarajan (34 rtd) & Raj Karunairatnam (30 rtd) do the talking with the bat.

Although the Thomians managed to get Chitral Perera (2), Nad Balgunan (13) & Channa Atukorala (5) cheaply, Suren Chanmugam (32 rtd) & Mahen Selvarajah (30 rtd) steadied the Royal innings playing some shots that would make any Sri Lankan proud. Janaka Subasinghe chipped in with a quick 22 to make the final score 195/4 in the allocated 30 overs.

Mahesh, Vimal Jayanetti, Lal Wimalaratne & Prahalath captured a wicket each for the old Thomians while rest of the royal line up retired in order to give a bat to all team members.

After a well earned “maalu paan” & soft drink break, The Thomians got off to a flyer with openers Randy Morrel (33 rtd) and Jayantha scoring 11 runs in the first over. But Royal came back strongly in the very next over when Jayantha fell cheaply. The Thomian skipper Lasa Peris (31 rtd) joined Randy and took the royalists to the ropes.

Eksath Perera (4) & Vimal Jayanetti (0) fell almost immediately after both Randy & Lasa retired reaching 30+ runs. Rehan Abeykoon (17) Mahesh (20) & Prahalath (15) took on the strong Royal bowling attack led by Janaka Subasinghe (3/4) & Nad Balgunan (2/25).
Nimalan Karthikeyan, Raj Karunairatnam & Mahen Selvarajah took a wicket each to bowl the Thomians out for 166. A further 14 runs was awarded to the Thomians according to the “over 60s rule” making the final tally 180 all out in 29 overs.

A most enjoyable day filled with old jokes and stories that has lasted more than five decades was brought to an end with the presentation of the following awards.

Man of the Match:     P.Selvarajan ( RC )
Best Batsman:         Randy Morrel ( STC )
Best Bowler:             Janaka Subasinghe ( RC )
Best Fielder:             Mahesh ( STC )

Chief Scores

Royal College 195/4 in 30 overs.

Prasanna Kariyawasam 3, P. Selvarajan 34 rtd, Raj Karunairatnam 30 rtd,  Chitral Perera 2, Nad Balgunan 13, Channa Atukorala 5, Suren Chanmugam 32 rtd, Deva Mylvaganam 11, Mahen Selvarajah 30 rtd, Janaka Subasinghe 22 rtd
Nimalan Karthikeyan 1 not out, Rohan Abeysekera 3 not out

Mahesh 1/14, Vimal 1/8, Lal 1/15, Prahalath 1/22
 
STC 166 + 14 bonus runs = 180 in 29 overs

Randy Morrel 33 rtd, Jayantha 5, Lasa Peris 31 rtd, Eksath Perera 4, Rehan Abeykoon 17, Vimal Jayanetti 0, Mahesh 20, Prahalath 15, Harry 10, Shaan Ching 5
Derek Bolling 0, Lal Wimalaratne 3

Janaka Subasinghe 3/4, Nimalan Karthikeyan 1/22, Raj Karunairatnam 1/12, Nad Balgunan 2/25, Mahen Selvarajah 1/13

Teams

STC:
Lasa Peris (Capt), Randy Morrel, Stanley Jayanthakumar, S Prahalath, Derek Bolling, Lal Wimalaratne, Harry Cumaraswamy, Eksath Perera, Shann Ching, Rehan Abeykoon, Vimal Jayanetti, Mahesh Naganathan

RC:
Prasanna Kariyawasam (Capt), P. Selvarajan, Raj Karunairatnam, Chitral Perera, Nad Balgunan, Channa Atukorala, Suren Chanmugam, Deva Mylvaganam, Mahen Selvarajah, Janaka Subasinghe, Nimalan Karthikeyan, Rohan Abeysekera
   
   
   
   
   

Thomians in NSW celebrate 158 years of History

(The Blue Black and Blue Ball 2009)  

Thomians, their partners, friends and worthy foes, gathered at the PARRA VILLA Grand Ballroom in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday May 30 th 2009, for the annual STC OBA NSW ball. The weather was not the best and the traffic in Sydney made one wonder what had become of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). But this did not deter 400 hundred guests; from all walks of life, of varying faiths and community backgrounds; from flocking to the Grand Ball room of the PARRA VILLA to meet, greet, reminisce and dance the night away. Among the guests were Thomians from interstate and overseas. The OBA in Melbourne was represented by Mr Varney (Jr) and ex President Mr Nalin Dassenaike; the latter carried the House Flags (on loan from Melbourne to Sydney) that adorned the hall.

The ‘Emcee' Mr Duke Ramachandran opened proceedings for the night and invited the President Mr Richie De Silva to greet the guests. Richie spoke warmly of Thomian history with particular focus on the 2009 Royal-Thomian cricket match, where 11 teenagers had given themselves and the world a unique lesson in management. Then it was the turn of DJ Neil and Sri Lanka's best dance band MISTY, to transform the guests – all in ‘formal dress' - into a gyrating mass of rhythmic movement! This they did with professionalism. MISTY tested the audience, judged their mood to perfection and then set about the task of ‘delivering' with a sensitivity not often witnessed on the dance scene. They brought out the “party animal” in all, with a rich blend of jazzed up old-time favourites, local and international hits, all the while improvising, to suit their audience. And when most bands would stop for a break, MISTY acceded to the audience's ‘demand' for more and kept on going! The audience never had to stop dancing for lack of ‘musical motivation'! They stopped because to keep dancing may well have resulted in major knee surgery on Sunday morning!

The STC OBA committee worked tirelessly, ably assisted by their spouses and supporters. The audience did not disappoint. They came out decked in all their finery to have a great night. Thanks to clever marketing and community goodwill we had 18 prize winners on the night. It was a delight to see the young and the not so young blend with the beat, improvising on the run, to give visual expression to the words of a song. It was a good night of fellowship, song and dance for one and all.

Photographs covering the occasion was taken by Doug Jones.

Click here to see the Photos of The Blue Black and Blue Ball 2009
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