C. I. Gunasekera
Personal information
Full name
Conroy Ievers Gunasekera
Born(1920-07-14)14 July 1920
Ceylon
Died29 July 2010(2010-07-29) (aged 90)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm leg-spin and googly
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 22
Runs scored 1266
Batting average 37.23
100s/50s 3/4
Top score 212
Balls bowled 2790
Wickets 53
Bowling average 23.64
5 wickets in innings 2
10 wickets in match 2
Best bowling 8/69
Catches/stumpings 15/–
Source: Cricinfo, 28 March 2020

Conroy Ievers Gunasekera, sometimes spelt Gunasekara (14 July 1920 – 29 July 2010) was a Sri Lankan cricketer who played first-class cricket for Ceylon from 1949 to 1964, in the period before the country gained Test status. He captained Ceylon several times in the early 1960s.[1]

Life and career

Gunasekera was educated at Royal College Colombo where he played in the Royal-Thomian encounter, starting from 1938. He entered Colombo Law College in 1940, but interrupted his legal studies to join the Ceylon Defence Force as a Second Lieutenant during World War II.[2]

He started playing cricket for the Sinhalese Sports Club under the captaincy of Fredrick C. de Saram.[2] Thereafter Gunasekera went on to play for the Ceylon team. He also represented the Commonwealth, scoring a hundred in the match Commonwealth v MCC, when he took part in a partnership of 207 with the Australian all-rounder Keith Miller.[1] He brought up his century with a six, and Miller did the same shortly afterwards.[3] Up until the 1980s he played for the SSC.

His highest first-class score was 212 for Ceylon against Madras in the annual Gopalan Trophy match in 1958–59.[1] He scored 120 and 30 against Pakistan in 1948–49.[4] With his leg-spin he took 8 for 69 and 2 for 78 for a Ceylon team against a strong Pakistan Combined Services team in 1953-54[5] and 7 for 63 and 3 for 91 for Ceylon against Mysore in 1957–58.[6]

David Sheppard described him as "a great cricketer who would surely have played Test cricket if he had qualified for another country ... a fine, forcing batsman, driving with great power, and a good leg-spin bowler".[7]

Gunasekera joined Walker & Sons Limited as a manager and went on to serve as a director.[2] His uncle was Dr Churchill Gunasekara, who also captained the Ceylon cricket team.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Thawfeeq, Sa'adi (29 July 2010). "CI Gunasekera dies at 90". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Epasinghe, Premasara. "Legendary C. I. Gunasekera". The Island. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. ↑ Wijesinha, Bertie (22 August 2010). "C.I. Gunasekara: A man that can never be forgotten!". Sunday Observer. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  4. ↑ "Ceylon v Pakistan 1948-49". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. ↑ "Ceylon Cricket Association v Combined Services 1953-54". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "Mysore v Ceylon 1957-58". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  7. ↑ David Sheppard, Parson's Pitch, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1964, p. 104.
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