Edwin leaves the field

Visiting teams may have struggled on the Nalanda College Turf, but it has always been a delight for Nalandains to play on a wicket prepared by one of the best on the subject Edwin Syneris– the evergreen Nalanda groundsman. It is heart breaking to hear about the demise of the Nalanda icon. 

His stewardship to make Nalanda Grounds one of the best maintained helped him to become arguably one of the most qualified groundsmen among Colombo schools during the last quarter century. And he was solely responsible for making the ‘Campbell Place Stadium’ look so beautiful. 

All of us have seen him rolling the wicket, laying the matting, carrying his utensils in a wheelbarrow, marking the starting line and finishing line for track events, marking lines for field events, placing goal posts for hockey, football, rugby etc. He played different roles as curator, ground boy, guardsman of the grounds, store-keeper, bat repairer, matting maker, and bat seasoning expert etc.  

His work was flawless. He took pride in his job and was passionate about the role he played. His commitment and loyalty to the school and the grounds where he was in-charge helped Nalandians to achieve many laurels at National and International Levels. His dedication was such that no one could step into the ground without his permission and Nalanda had a well-manicured grassy ground. Many girls’ schools around, preferred to have their Inter House Athletics meets at Nalanda Grounds may be because of the quality of the ground and the discipline of Nalanda students.  

We cadets were lucky to seek his assistance during practices and he was always at our service. He knew we had Cadeting training during school holidays during April and always made it a point to keep whatever items that we required for our training during school holidays in the cadets Armory under the custody of the Platoon Officer as he used to go on a sojourn to his home town during this time.   Many sportsmen who learnt ABC of their respective sport owes so much to this gentleman. He left a legacy, and his name will be written in gold in the sporting history of Nalanda.

I remember him being immaculately dressed in white for matches and especially for the Big Match where he used to be inside the Nalanda Dressing Room with Players. When we (organizing Committee - NJOBA) invited him for the Bandula, Roshan, Asanka felicitation ceremony in 1999 at the Colombo Oberoi, he came immaculately dressed and was assigned the role of receiving the guests with traditional ‘Ayubowan’. 

He was a regular visitor at every Ananda-Nalanda. He enjoyed and was happy to be at the ‘Brothers Tent’ where he used to meet most of the unruly trespassers of his much-loved Nalanda Grounds during yesteryears. Many will miss his ebullience at the Brothers’ Tent from the next big match. 

 Lot more to write about him, many will agree that he was a true legend of Nalanda. 

Good Bye Edwin – the committed and loyal stakeholder of Nalanda.

- appreciation written by 
Athula Jayasekera