Bellingham scores twice as England beat Norway 2-1 to reach World Cup semis

The first death anniversary of Rienzie Wijetilleke just passed us, bringing back memories of the banker, the gentleman and legend. Much has and will continue to be written about this banking icon not just for his outstanding achievements but also for the values he stood by in a hugely challenging career spanning more than four decades. While many are conversant with his legendary deeds, to me he was clearly a man of destiny. A humble beginning with the Bank of Ceylon, where his talents were recognised early by his peers Loganathan and Sirimanne, led to him being assigned to a four year spell in their London branch in 1966. While life in London at that time posed its own challenges, supported by his soulmate Dammi as he fondly referred to his dear wife, the adjustment was made and soon they were blessed with Harsha and Chamira, during that tenure. Upon his return and while serving the Bank of Ceylon in their Nuwara Eliya branch he was head hunted by the newly formed Hatton National Bank in 1972. The senior official recognising his growing stature on this occasion was the Bank’ s General Manager Dharmarajah. This change appeared to lay the foundation for a remarkable career for Rienzie but then a brief distraction took him overseas to the British Bank of the Middle East in Dubai, much to the disappointment of his peers at HNB. Their third son Kusum was born there. Dharmarajah, a true visionary did not give up on Rienzie and in 1986, convinced him to return to the Bank and placed him in a position that clearly identified his path to the Bank’s Board Room…..Destiny?! Immediately thereafter two deaths within the family and the premature shocking demise of the Bank’s Chairman Lester Cooray in a short space of time took him emotionally to the verge of depression. Thanks to his religious faith and strong character he showed glimpses of his leadership qualities by taking adversity head on. With a total focus on the bank’s activities and expansion, he initiated a network of branches that made the bank the largest private commercial bank in the country and introduced a multitude of products and services for these branches to access. HNB Towers will be a lasting monument to his innovative leadership and when he was criticised for embarking on such an ambitious project in the times of the conflict he responded by saying ” It’s better to build than to destroy”! Then came another stroke of destiny. In 1999, the Cricket Board had sunk to an alarmingly low level with wide spread allegations of extensive financial mismanagement, assaults and intimidation of voters at gun point that drew the world’s attention. Our name had been sullied in the eyes of the International Cricket Council while our ranking as a Test playing nation had plunged to Nine. Her Excellency the President Chandrika Kumaratunge was swift to respond in directing her Sports Minister to suspend the Executive Committee and to gazette the appointment of an Interim Committee headed by Rienzie. The next eleven months saw an amazing resurgence of our on field performances under a new young captain Sanath Jayasuriya facilitated by the return of Dav Whatmore as Coach. Meanwhile our credibility and image at the ICC was equally restored by the Interim Committe’s official who attended the AGM on the 23rd June 1999 at Lord’s in London. Rienzie ‘s strong leadership in an area unknown to him previously was admired by the other members of the committee viz Michael Tissera, (Vice Chairman) Skandakumar ( Vice Chairman/ Secretary ), Sidath Wettimuny, (Member and Chairman Selection Committee ), Ashantha De Mel ( Treasurer) and Kushil Gunasekera ( Asst Secretary ) and the rapid change to accountability and professionalism in the functions of the Cricket Board was astounding. It was also a period in which Rienzie’s own image, most deservedly, received a boost in the public eye to the extent that he came to be associated more with the nation’s cricket than the bank! While acknowledging the accolades he received for restoring the game from the low depths it had descended to, in his memoirs he wrote on his colleagues as follows “Yet for all their achievements, their courage and disciplined temperament, there was a touching honesty and modesty in the way they went about their mission.” “They demonstrated what a small spirited group expounding crisp, clean and clear objectives could achieve in the face of insurmountable odds “ Thank you Rienzie , our coming together in such a worthy national cause was also DESTINY’ ! Rest in Peace dear friend! Your Legacy lives on… by S. Skandakumar