Churchill Gunasekara

Churchill Gunasekara

Personal information
Full name	Churchill Hector Gunasekara
Born	27 July 1894(1894-07-27) Colombo, Ceylon
Died	16 May 1969(1969-05-16) (aged 74) Mawala, Ceylon
Batting style	Right-handed batsman
Bowling style	Right-arm medium pace
Role	All-rounder
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1919-1922	Middlesex
1927-1935	Ceylon
Career statistics
Competition	FC
Matches	51
Runs scored	957
Batting average	15.68
100s/50s	0/6
Top score	88*
Balls bowled	6439
Wickets	90
Bowling average	31.94
5 wickets in innings	4
10 wickets in match	0
Best bowling	5-15
Catches/stumpings	33/0
Source: CricketArchive, October 3 1935

Dr Churchill Hector Gunasekara (July 27, 1894 - May 16, 1969) was a Ceylonese first-class cricketer. He was the first person from his country to play for an English county, representing Middlesex from 1919 to 1922.

Gunasekara was educated at Royal College in Colombo where he was captain of the cricket team and achieved colours in both athletics and football. He moved to England in order to study medicine at Cambridge University and excelled again at sports, only missing out on a Blue due to the outbreak of the War.^[1]

In 1919 he made his first-class debut for Middlesex and went on to have a good all-round Championship season, with 36 wickets at 27.72 and 351 runs at 21.93.^[2] Despite batting at nine, he top scored for Middlesex in the first innings of their match against Surrey at Kennington Oval with 88 not out.^[3] His best performance with the ball came against Lancashire where he dismissed their last five batsmen to finish with 5/15.^[4]

The following summer he was part of Middlesex's successful campaign for the 1920 County Championship. He didn't play at all in 1921 but returned in 1922 for one final season.

Having completed his degree, Gunasekara returned to Ceylon and became captain of his country's cricket team. He played 10 first-class matches in total for various Ceylonese representative sides and also captained one in a none first-class fixture against Don Bradman's Australia.^[5][6]

Gunasekara's son Channa and four of his nephews, including C. I. Gunesekera also played first-class cricket for Ceylon.

External links

• CricketArchive statistical analysis of Churchill Gunasekara
• Cricinfo profile

References

1. ^ "Flamboyant Colombo and CH Gunasekara". Cricinfo. http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/story/139669.html. 
2. ^ "Averages by Team County Championship 1919". CricketArchive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/ENG/County_Championship_1919/Team_Averages.html. 
3. ^ "Surrey v Middlesex 1919". CricketArchive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/9/9663.html. 
4. ^ "Lancashire v Middlesex 1919". CricketArchive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/9/9671.html. 
5. ^ "First-Class Matches played by Churchill Gunasekara". CricketArchive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/26/26272/First-Class_Matches.html. 
6. ^ "The story of Churchill Hector Gunasekera". Cricinfo. http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/story/140867.html. 

Persondata
Name	Gunasekara, Churchill
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 27, 1894
Place of birth	Colombo
Date of death	May 16, 1969
Place of death	Mawala