Tall and lanky T Rajaratnam was first a fearless soccer goalie during the glory years of the Benedictines. When the Old Bens hockey team was formed in 1963, he fitted in perfectly which no doubt helped them dominate the hockey scene in the sixties.
Before the formation of Old Bens SC, he represented the Tamil Union C&AC with distinction.
He represented the Colombo HA at the 1st National Championships in 1956 and thereafter for the Government Services from 1961 t0 1965.
As an old Ben, I fondly remember his superlative performance in 1961 when Government Services HA beat hot favourites Mercantile HA at the National Hockey Championship. Incidentally, I captained the MHA team while Tamil Union stalwart and national ‘cap’ Chandi Chanmugam captained the Government Services.
Having to compete with the legend Freddie White and successor, K Tharmarajah, he rightly got his opportunity to play versus highly rated Great Britain in both the Test matches, where we lost 0/2 and 0/1, respectively.
T RAJARATNAM
Position: Goal keeper
Clubs: Tamil Union, Old Bens SC, Colombo and Government Services HA
1963 vs Madras HA
1963 vs Mysore HA
1964 vs Great Britain (2 Tests)
Richard Heyn was of the highest class
Joining the Burgher Recreation Club as a teenager, Richard Heyn was an automatic choice during the sixties, where the club won many tournaments. He captained the winning team in 1967.
He was a brilliant cricketer and was the club’s leading all-rounder.
He represented the Mercantile HA at the National Hockey Championships from 1965 to 1967 and was a member of Ceylon’s contingent to the 1962 Asian Games.
His crowning glory was when he was selected to play in all three Test matches versus India in 1967, where he withstood the might of the marauding Indian forwards. Losing 0/1 in the first Test, Ceylon hit the headlines, worldwide.
RICHARD R. HEYN (born 1942)
Position: Right back
Clubs: Burgher RC, Colombo and Mercantile HA
1963 vs Madras HA
1963 vs Mysore HA
1965 vs Indonesia (2 Tests)
1966 Tour of South and North India
1966 Asian Games, Bangkok
1967 vs India (3 Tests)
Randy Morrell
Randy Morrell joined the Burgher Recreation Club in 1963 and was immediately selected to represent the club both at hockey and cricket.
He had the makings of a great half back and was quickly spotted to represent Ceylon versus the visiting Mysore Hockey Association team, as a teenager in 1963.
In 1964 he was selected to play versus Great Britain.
He went into planting in 1965 and was lost to the game which surely he would have excelled in for many years to come.
He emigrated to Sydney, Australia, with his wife Mary Anne and family in 1972.
RANDOLPH C. MORRELL (born 1944)
Position: Right half
Clubs: Burgher RC, Colombo HA
1963 vs Mysore HA
1964 vs Great Britain
Kottinkaduwa
CA Kottinkaduwa represented Matale HA at the National Championships from 1957 to 1961 and 1963.
CA KOTTINKADUWA (born 1939)
Position: Left extreme
Clubs: Tamil Union, Matale and Colombo HA
1963 vs Madras HA
1963 vs Mysore HA
1965 vs Indonesia
1966 Tour of South and North India
1967 vs India
Batcho Selvarajah
Batcho Selvarajah was a brilliant right extreme and at his best was as good as any top Indian. His contribution to the Old Bens hockey team was immense and was a regular goal getter apart from serving judicious passes to his other forwards.
He represented Colombo HA at the National Championships in 1964 and 1965 and Mercantile HA from 1969 to 1973 and captained the team in 1974, and played in winning teams in 1969 and 1970.
SA (BATCHO) SELVARAJAH (born 1946)
Position: Right extreme
Clubs: Old Bens SC, Colombo and Mercantile HA
1964 vs Great Britain
1965 vs Indonesia
1966 Tour of South and North India
1966 Asian Games, Bangkok
1967 vs India (3 Tests)
1967 Tour of North India
1968 vs Malaysia
1968 vs Singapore (2 Tests)
1969 Tour of South and North India
1970 Asian Games, Bangkok