“Frustrations forced me to go on Rebel tour”: Aponso

• Oldest batsman to score a fifty in WC and ODI

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Flavian Aponso at 68 years today

Former Sri Lanka cricketer Flavian Aponso was last week in the news for holding on to a world record for 25 years as the oldest batsman to score a half-century in a World Cup and ODI match.

Aponso achieved this feat representing not Sri Lanka, but the Netherlands (also known as Holland) in the World Cup match against Pakistan at Lahore in 1996 where he scored 58 off 105 balls at the age of 43 years and 121 days. To this day this innings remains a world record.

The Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB) in a tribute to Aponso’s achievement presented him with a video clip of his cricket and his World Cup feat.

Although he was not representing Sri Lanka at the time Aponso could be the oldest Sri Lankan to play international cricket at 43 years. DS de Silva was 42 years when he played his last Test match and ODI for Sri Lanka and Sanath Jayasuriya was two days short of his 42nd birthday when he made his final ODI appearance.

Aponso, a left-hand middle-order bat and off-break bowler, had an outstanding school and club career in Sri Lanka that saw him getting picked in the national pool on several occasions, but to his disappointment he was never given the opportunity to take the next big step that is to win a national cap for his country in ODIs or in Test cricket.

In a frank interview with Daily FT via email, Aponso, who resides in the UK, outlining his cricket career said that he studied at St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa and excelled in cricket captaining the first eleven side in 1970. He was a contemporary of Duleep Mendis who was his best class mate at school before Mendis moved to S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia.

Aponso’s performances earned him a place in the Sri Lanka Schools team against the visiting Australian Schoolboy cricketers in 1972. In 1973 he broke into the club circuit and excelled for Colts in the Sara Trophy division I tournament for four years earning tours to India with the Mercantile team in 1974 and with the Gopalan Trophy side in 1975. That year he was picked to play for the Sri Lanka U25 side against Pakistan U25 and was in the national pool for the West Indies tour to Sri Lanka and for the inaugural Cricket World Cup in 1975.

From 1976-79 Aponso continued his club career by joining Bloomfield. It is during this period that he experienced his first disappointment.

“Being a left-hand batsman and off-spin bowler, and having scored two centuries in a 50-over cricket tournament (one of them in 78 minutes) the selectors opted to pick a schoolboy from Royal College who has never played any club cricket for the 1979 World Cup in England,” recalled Aponso.

His second disappointment came two years later when he playing for Saracens SC. He was chosen to the national pool for Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in 1981 but left out of the Board President’s XI match played in his home town Moratuwa.

In the meantime Aponso was offered a Professional Player/Coach contract in Holland during the summer of 1981.

Further disappointments followed when despite being in the top three of the batting averages (with 3 centuries) he was not even selected to the national pool of 33 players for the first-ever Test against England in 1982.

“Those disappointments were the main reasons for me to accept the offer to go on the Rebel tour to South Africa in Oct/Dec. 1982,” said Aponso.

“After the Rebel tour, I was banned from playing cricket for 25 years in Sri Lanka, but I was not bothered and continued my professional career in Holland. In 1987, the Dutch Cricket Board selected me to play for their National team and I continued playing until the 1996 World Cup. During this period, I played 78 international matches against every cricketing country except against Sri Lanka,” he said.

Aponso served as a professional cricketer/coach in Holland for 25 years (1981-2005) before moving to the UK for his second son’s higher education. He has two sons.

“Since then I have been involved in some cricket coaching in three clubs in Middlesex and also having my private coaching as well. I started volunteer-coaching in 1970 at my school (St. Sebastian’s College) and today I have already completed 50 years as a cricket coach,” said Aponso.

“I am a strong believer. I am not really disheartened and I am not against any person. I don’t think anybody had any personal reasons for not selecting me. Even today I hear of all these problems in the Cricket Board with selections. Even at that time it was there.

“Despite all the disappointments in my native country Sri Lanka, God has given me the strength, courage and the opportunity to achieve my goals in my adopted country, Holland. I am so happy about my achievements and milestones as a cricket player/coach. I always thank God for his kindness and blessings to keep this ‘Old Man Still Alive in Cricket’ even at the age of 68 years plus,” he said.