When Michael taught how to rock

"We [Sri Lanka] should have got the Test status before we did. The tour of England that was planned in 1969 was called off due to various problems like lack of funds, etc. It was a good itinerary, about 11 county games that included contests against Oxford, Cambridge, MCC. We had a good team then. Had that tour gone through, we probably would have been a Test side little earlier."

When 78-year-old Michael Tissera, one of the early torchbearers of Sri Lankan cricket, played in the 1960s and 70s, cricket was not a professional sport. Played by a bunch of amateurs, it was only the keenness and ability that helped them pull on. During this period when Sri Lanka wasn't a Test nation, the only cricket they played were the whistle-stop games when international sides would stop over in Sri Lanka to play a four-day game before proceeding with their tour to the original destination. If one such game was in March, they would be lucky to get another in December, and in between, they rarely saw their teammates, who used to come together from different places only a week before these big games.

"We were all amateurs, we worked in Mercantile firms from say 9 to 4, and at 4.30 PM against the setting sun, we had to quickly warm up and practise because it got dark at 6 o' clock. We all worked in different firms and used to get together probably one week before the game," Tissera tells Cricbuzz.

"We didn't get paid. I think on the tour of India, we got 15 LKR a day. At the World Cup, we got about 400 pounds. Otherwise, we bought our own kits, we didn't have sponsors, we were never paid for playing locally here."

Despite the little exposure, Ceylon as it was called back in the day, had the opportunity to play against some of the biggest names in the game - Gary Sobers, Clive Llyods, Wesley Hall, Charlie Griffith, Derek Underwood, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson have all come visiting at various points.

Tissera candidly confesses it was the raw pace of these international bowlers that proved to be a major problem for them. "It was only a matter of luck if a batsman survived 20-30 minutes because only after that did we have a hang of things. West Indies were a very strong side when they had come here, Gary Sobers captained that '67 team, they had [Rohan] Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Wesley Hall, Charlie Griffith, Lance Gibbs."

Hall, Thomson, Lillee were among the toughest bowlers that Tissera faced. There were no speed guns then but it was believed they clocked 100 miles an hour at some stage. Even Andy Roberts, he adds. "We never thought about helmets because all our lives we played without it. But one thing we did was to watch the ball until it reached us, because if you didn't and if it hit, you would have died. But at no stage will I say that we were in danger except in the 1975 World Cup when Thomson hit two of our fellows - Sunil Wettimuny and Duleep Mendis had to be carried out. Fortunately, in 1975, the Oval wicket was superb, so we managed to survive."

One of Tissera's lasting memories from his playing career is the storied [unofficial] 'Test' win in India against Nawab of Pataudi's boys in 1965. After comfortable wins for India in the first two games at Bangalore and Hyderabad, the third game in Ahmedabad was affected by rain. It had rained till Tea on Day 2 and with about 25,000 people packing the stadium, Pataudi went up to Tissera and asked, "There are so many people who have come to watch the game, shall we play?" Tissera didn't have any hesitations.

The pitch was all mud, with those being the days of uncovered wickets. At the end of the third day, Sri Lanka were on 144 for 7 after India were bowled out for 189. At the team meeting that evening, the captain pondered with his teammates if it will be a tame draw with only one day left. An overnight declaration would mean there would be some time for the bowlers, maybe it would help the confidence. Although Tissera and his team didn't expect to bowl India out for just 66 on the fourth day (also the final day), they managed to do that and then chased down 111 with four wickets in hand. Ever since, Sri Lanka are yet to win a Test in India and thus this not just remains the first win but also the only win on Indian soil for them in the longer format.

"When I had to go on that tour of India, I had to take my annual leave. Of course the family was disadvantaged and not very happy because the only holiday trip for them was now gone," recalls Tissera.

There are other fond memories too and even now, Tissera remembers them as if it was only yesterday. "In 1961, six of the West Indians came from Australia on their way to England and they played a match against us. They formed a team with the locals here and I remember scoring a hundred against them, that felt good. In 1974, when the West Indies had come, we fared well against them too. We lost the first Test, but in the second innings of the second Test, we did pretty well. They were 119 for 8 or something, Llyod, who was injured, had to come out to bat and save the game."

In his honour, both the cricket boards from West Indies and Sri Lanka named the series between the two sides as the Sobers-Tissera Trophy. Having served as a player, chairman of selectors, administrator and also manager, Tissera led by example, and with a lot of dignity. A proud Thomian who led his school twice in the