Ryan Fernando shatters records with unbeaten 252

By Amindha de Alwis

First XI cricket captain of S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, Ryan Fernando, stamped his name in the record books with his mammoth score of 252 not out made versus Isipathana College, Colombo, in their two-day traditional encounter played over the weekend.

Batting at number four, Fernando struck 25 fours and two sixes to record the highest score by a Thomian batsman.
His unbeaten knock was also a ground record, surpassing the famous 235 made by Bertie Wijesinghe in 1939 and Kumar Sangakkara’s 198 in 1997.

The young batter is only the third Thomian to notch up a double-ton after Wijesinghe and Ravindu De Silva (2019).
Fernando had been recognised as a formidable talent ever since he took up the sport for his school at junior academy level, where at the tender age of 11, he won Best Player at their annual Cricket Carnival.
In 2019, he played his first Royal-Thomian Big Match aged 16, as S. Thomas’ took home the Trophy in a year when they were named All-Island Best Team after emerging All-Island Limited Overs champions and coming in runners-up in the two-day competition.

Director of Sports and Overseer of Cricket at S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, Dinesh Kumarasinghe said that Fernando’s penchant for long innings makes him an exciting prospect.

“Players like this who can make long innings are good for the future. He’s a national potential player and has played for Sri Lanka Under-19s, but to his bad luck did not make the Under-19 World Cup squad after a few matches where he went through a bad patch which is something any cricketer can have. He is an excellent all-round cricketer,” he said.