Mano Ponniah

Charles Edward Manoharan "Mano" Ponniah (born 3 May 1943 in Kalutara, Ceylon) is a Sri Lankan architect and engineer who played first-class cricket in Sri Lanka and England from 1964 to 1969.

Mano Ponniah
Personal information
Full nameCharles Edward Manoharan Ponniah
Born (1942-05-03) 3 May 1942
Kalutara, Ceylon
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm leg-spin
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1967 to 1969Cambridge University
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 45
Runs scored 1978
Batting average 25.03
100s/50s 1/11
Top score 101 not out
Balls bowled 190
Wickets 6
Bowling average 13.66
5 wickets in innings 1
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 5/20
Catches/stumpings 12/0
Source: Cricket Archive, 28 December 2014

Cricket career in Ceylon

Mano Ponniah attended S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, before studying engineering at the University of Ceylon. He was a member of the University team that won the P. Saravanamuttu Trophy in 1963.[1]

He played for Ceylon as an opening batsman while still a student, making his first-class debut in the Gopalan Trophy match against Madras in 1963-64, when in 76.1 overs in the second innings he made 60 not out, Ceylon's highest score of the match, to help Ceylon to victory by six wickets.[2] He toured India with Ceylon in 1964-65, playing in seven of the eight first-class matches and scoring 325 runs at an average of 25.00.[3] He played in all three matches against India.

Cricket career in England

In 1966, he went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge to continue his studies. He played for Cambridge University from 1967 to 1969. His best season was 1967, when in 13 matches he scored 800 runs at an average of 36.36.[4] His highest score in 1967 was 98 not out against Middlesex, when he opened the innings and added 194 for the second wicket with Roger Knight.[5]

He was selected to tour England with the Ceylon team in 1968, but the tour was cancelled just before it was due to begin.[6] In 1968, Cambridge won no matches, and "despite a rather limited range of strokes"[7] Ponniah scored their only century. In the match against Lancashire, he made 101 not out in the first innings and 67 in the second, while his team-mates made only 93 and 63 respectively.[8] In his last match, against Oxford University in 1969, he made 27 and 50 not out, sharing an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 123 in 92 minutes with Knight.[9]

Architecture career

Ponniah worked in England until 1990, when he returned to Sri Lanka and founded the Colombo architectural firm Mano Ponniah & Associates. The firm has won several awards, including one for an ocean resort in the Maldives.[10]

He and his wife Radhika, whom he married in 1971, have two sons.

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References
  1. Mano Ponniah: Bashful Batsman and Articulate Architect
  2. Ceylon Board President's XI v Madras 1963-64
  3. Batting averages, Ceylon in India 1964-65
  4. CEM Ponniah batting by season
  5. Cambridge University v Middlesex 1967
  6. S. S. Perera, The Janashakthi Book of Sri Lanka Cricket (1832–1996), Janashakthi Insurance, Colombo, 1999, pp. 320–26.
  7. Wisden 1969, p. 683.
  8. Cambridge University v Lancashire 1968
  9. Wisden 1970, p. 349.
  10. Mano Ponniah & Associates website
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