The Thomians have a ‘Royal BBQ' on Australia Day…

Thoras and Royalists sweat it out in near BBQ heat on Australia Day…

By Pulasthi Samaraweera

In true Aussie tradition of spending Australia Day relaxing around the BBQ, Thomians too love to spend Australia Day in similar vain with their family and friends. But this year Australia Day they were asked to play a cricket match with their old rivals – Royal College. Needless to say not only did the Thoras play cricket with the good old foe but made a Royal BBQ out of them!

The Sydney Battle of the Blues between Royal College and S. Thomas College was held on ‘Australia Day' 26 th January 2011 at ELS Hall Park, North Ryde. This year both schools decided to have the over 50s and the main game on the same day.

Over 50s game:

Keeping up with the tradition the seniors started the Australia day parade by making the first use of the turf. Asked to start at 8.30am sharp it was evident that the Royal seniors forgot their morning tea – Hence they decided to have their Thomian counterparts for breakfast hammering 187/2 in the allocated 30 overs. Chitral Perera top scored with 35(retired) for the Royal seniors with C. Athukorala, S. Selverajah and R. Karunairatnam retiring after scoring 30 a piece. Lassa Pieris managed to grab the only wicket for the Thomian seniors with Eksath Perera holding on to a super deep mid-off catch.

The Thomian seniors could only manage 158/5 conceding a 29 run victory for the Royal over 50s. Man of the match Chitral Perera grabbed 2 wickets for Royal while Eksath Perera top scored with 34(retired) for the Thomian over 50s.

Royal College over 50s 187/2 in 30 overs.

P.Kariyawasam 26(rt), D Karunarathna 30(rt), Chitral Perera 35(rt), S. Selvarajah 30(rt), C. Athukorala 30(rt)
L.Pieris 1/13
 
STC over 50s 158/5 in 30 overs

Eksath Perera 34(rt), S. Jayanthakumar 30(rt), Chitral Perera 2/22

Man of the Match: Chitral Perera (RC)
Best Batsman: Eksath Perera ( STC )
Best Bowler: Mahen Selverajah ( RC )

Best Fielder: Rajkumar Karunairatnam (RC)

Open age game:

Acknowledging the fact that their ‘fathers learnt to play the game before them', and hoping to ‘do the same' the Royalists went to bat led by their stylish opener & skipper Ruwan Weerakoon. While Pruthuwi Atthanayake was determined to learn from the blue & gold men who played the game before him, most of the other Royal batsmen simply honored their school motto and departed leaving Royal struggling at 93/6.

The Thomians were almost rejoicing a certain victory when Rajitha Wijesekara joined Pruthuwi and put on 62 valuable runs for the 7 th wicket. Royal went on to make a formidable score of 182 all out in 41 overs. Pruthuwi Atthanayake top scored for Royal with 77 with Rajitha Wijesekara supporting him with a quick fire 34. Richie De Silva was the pick of the Thomian bowlers with 3/30 supported by Ruwan Gunasinghe who captured 2/49.

Chasing 183 to win the Thomians soon found themselves trailing at 2/22 with both openers back in the shed. Skipper Gimantha Jayasinghe joined Denham Williams and started steadying the ship for the Thomians. Observant batting by Gimantha and Denham and some tired bowling by Royal took the Thomians to 157 when Denham Williams departed for 69. The pair added 135 for the 3 rd wicket. Ritchie De Silva then joined Gimantha and completed a ‘Right Royal thrashing' with Gimantha unbeaten on 81. The Thomians chased down the Royal target in 36 overs with 7 wickets in hand. Denham Williams was adjudged man of the match. In the true spirit of the way the game was played the Thomian Captain allowed a replacement be made to an injured player who had to retire early in his innings.

Royal College 182 all out in 41 overs.
Prithuvi 77, Rajitha Wijesekara 34, Richie De Silva 3/30, Ruwan Gunasinghe 2/49

STC 183/3 in 36 overs
Gimantha Jayasinghe 81n/o, Denham Williams 69, , Gayan 1/20, Dinesh De Dilva 1/26, Ruwan Weerakoon 1/39

Man of the Match: Denham Williams (STC)
Best Batsman: Gimantha Jayasinghe ( STC )
Best Bowler: Richie De Silva ( STC )
Best Fielder: Pruthuwi Atthanayake ( RC )

Special gratitude should go to all the fellow Royalists, Thomians and their families and friends who graced the event and made it a day filled with fun, laughter and good memories…

STC OBA NSW - New Committee 2010/2011

The Annual General Meeting of S. Thomas’ College OBA NSW was held on Sunday 31st October 2010.

Panchan Ratneser was appointed President succeeding Richie De Silva. In his annual report Richie highlighted the major events undertaken during his two-year period as President.  He thanked the team for their support to achieve success at every event.

Proposing a vote of thanks Panchan congratulated the members of the new committee and thanked Richie and other outgoing committee members for their dedication, high standards and conduct.

STC OBA NSW - Committee   2011

President - Panchan Ratneser  - panchanr@hotmail.com
Vice President - Gyan Fernando  - gyfern@hotmail.com
Vice President  - Eksath Perera  - eksath@bigpond.net.au
Secretary - Pulasthi Samaraweera  - pmsamaraweera@gmail.com
Treasurer -  Derek Bolling  - derek@derekbolling.com
Hon Auditor – Dayantha Fernando  - Dayantha.Fernando@railcorp.nsw.gov.au

Members
Kumar Rasiah  - kumar.rasiah@sca.nsw.gov.au
Ramesh Abayasekara  - ramesh.abay@jci.com
Niroshan De Silva  - nirodesilva@yahoo.com.au
Lal Wimalaratne  - lal.wimalaratne@business.nsw.gov.au
Gopinath Sathiacama  - gopinath.sathiacama@tnt.com
Denham Williams  - denhamw@gmail.com
Charith Jayasundara  - charith_j@yahoo.com

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