Last year I created the Guy De Alwis scholarship in memory of Sri Lankan cricketer Guy De Alwis. The recipient of this scholarship received a full ride to S Thomas Prep, located in Kollupitiya in the Colombo District of the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Both myself and De Alwis are alumni of S Thomas Prep, and I am grateful for the time I spent there in the classroom and the cricket field. St. Thomas Prep helped shape my future as an entrepreneur, businessman and father, and I am thrilled at the opportunity to provide a young student with the opportunity to attend S Thomas Prep for the duration of their schooling.
Today I’m thrilled to announce that the recipient, Rimon Deron Moses, has completed his first year on the scholarship and has been thriving in studies. Rimon has done an incredible job working hard at his studies, and has been promoted to grade 2. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this intelligent young man, and look forward to sharing his updated journey with you all next year.
About Guy De Alwis:
While Guy’s love for cricket began at St Thomas Prep, he first came into national prominence when playing for St Thomas College in 1976. Guy De Alwis truly stood tall among the stars of that particular Thomian era: the Ganeshans, Sashi and Ajit, Lakmal De Zoysa, Saliya Ahangama, DK Subramaniam, Lalith Ratnayake and sibling Ken, among others.
One of the tallest players standing at 6’, Guy kept wicket for Sri Lanka during the country’s early years at test level, when they were fighting to find their feet against more established nations.
Guy represented Sri Lanka at the 1983 World Cup tournament in England as a specialist wicket keeper. The right handed batsman played 11 Test matches and 31 one-day internationals for Sri Lanka, including the first Test match at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, Tasmania in 1987. After his own career as a cricketer, Guy acted as a successful coach to women’s cricket.
After Guy’s untimely passing from cancer at age 52 in 2013, former Sri Lankan World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga summed up the ‘stumper’ best when he said: “Guy was not only a committed cricketer, but a person who fought for justice. As a selector he was not afraid to pick players on their sheer merit. As an administrator he was strongly against corruption and went to a great extent to eliminate the malaise, and he was one of the best wicket-keepers produced by Sri Lanka.”