Moors SC cricket stalwart Tony Buhar dies in Australia

Tony A Buhar, an excellent fast bowling all-rounder for Moors SC in the fifties and sixties, died after a brief illness at the age of 84 in Canberra, Australia on Friday, and his funeral took place the following day.

Buhar made his debut for Moors SC at the age of 15 while still a student at St Joseph’s College, Colombo in 1951, and developed as the club’s leading all-rounder in the years to come.

He played for his alma mater from 1953-55, appearing in three Battle of the Saints Big Matches against traditional rivals St Peter’s College, scoring a half-century in the 1954 and 1955 matches.

Buhar was renowned for his close-in catching, his gritty batsmanship endowed with good big match temperament and a bowler of hostile pace.

Despite his excellent record for Moors SC in club cricket, he couldn’t quite make it to the Ceylon side, although he came quite close towards achieving it on several occasions. He toured Malaysia with the ‘Young Ceylon’ under 25 side in 1957, making a top score of 78 in the unofficial 3-day test against Malaysia, was selected to play for CCA President’s XI against Peter May’s English team in the one-day match in 1958, and scored a valuable 25 out of a fighting seventh wicket stand of 83 with Dr HIK Fernando for CCA against Ted Dexter’s MCC side in the two-day fixture in 1962.

Buhar was Moors SC’s outstanding bowler for many years, and with MEM Nawaz they formed a deadly pace duo in local club cricket.

Buhar migrated to Australia in the early seventies with his family (wife Marleen and daughter) and Moors SC felicitated him with a farewell cricket match in his honour and presented him with a purse. 

(ST)