Churchill Gunasekara
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Churchill Hector Gunasekara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | medium | 27 July 1894||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | All-rounder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1910–1912 | Royal College, Colombo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1919–1922 | Middlesex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1927–1935 | Ceylon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: CricketArchive, 8 October 2022 |
Dr Churchill Hector Gunasekara (27 July 1894 – 16 May 1969) was a Ceylonese first-class cricketer. He was the first person from his country to play for an English county, representing Middlesex from 1919 to 1922. He was widely regarded as the best fielder in county cricket at the time.
Gunasekara was educated at
In 1919 he made his first-class debut for Middlesex and went on to have a good all-round Championship season, with 36 wickets at 27.72 and 351 runs at 21.93.[2] Despite batting at nine, he top scored for Middlesex in the first innings of their match against Surrey at Kennington Oval with 88 not out.[3] His best performance with the ball came against Lancashire where he dismissed their last five batsmen to finish with 5/15.[4]
The following summer he was part of Middlesex's successful campaign for the 1920 County Championship. He didn't play at all in 1921 but returned in 1922 for one final season.
Having completed his degree, Gunasekara returned to Ceylon and became captain of his country's cricket team. He captained Ceylon's first overseas touring team,
He also represented Ceylon at tennis, playing against the visiting New Zealanders who were on their way to England in 1933 to play in the Davis Cup.[8]
Gunasekara's son Channa and four of his nephews, including
References
- ^ "Flamboyant Colombo and CH Gunasekara". Cricinfo.
- ^ "Averages by Team County Championship 1919". CricketArchive.
- ^ "Surrey v Middlesex 1919". CricketArchive.
- ^ "Lancashire v Middlesex 1919". CricketArchive.
- ^ S. S. Perera, The Janashakthi Book of Sri Lanka Cricket (1832–1996), Janashakthi Insurance, Colombo, 1999, pp. 170–71.
- ^ "First-Class Matches played by Churchill Gunasekara". CricketArchive.
- ^ "The story of Churchill Hector Gunasekera". Cricinfo.
- ^ S. S. Perera, p. 441.