Mahadevan "Satha" Sathasivam (18 October 1915,

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

– 9 July 1977 in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

), or Satha as he was known, is one of the greatest batsmen from

n whom

Garry Sobers Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowler, an aggressive batsman and an excellent fielder, ...

called "the greatest batsman ever on earth," and

Frank Worrell Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell (1 August 1924 – 13 March 1967), sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae, was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator. A stylish right-handed batsman and useful left-arm seam bowler, he became fam ...

called him "the best batsman he had ever seen".He was the first, and probably the only, man to captain three national teams. Sathasivam played cricket in the 1940s through the 1960s. He was captain of the Ceylon team in 1948, and then captain of the

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

team, and finally captain of the

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n team. He was accused and acquitted of murdering his wife, which gained much attention in Ceylon.

Early life and family

Sathasivam was educated at St. Joseph's College and at

Wesley College, Colombo Wesley College, Colombo, popularly known as "Wesley" or "The Double Blues" is a school providing primary and secondary education in Sri Lanka since 1874. Wesley College is a Methodist educational institution. History In 1858, Rev. Joseph Ri ...

. With the on set of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

, he was commissioned as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Ceylon Light Infantry Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

as part of the war time expansion in 1940. Sathasivam married Paripoornam Anandam Rajendra, younger daughter of Mr and Mrs Ramanathan Rajendra, a granddaughter of

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

Ponnambalam Ramanathan Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, CMG, KC ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் இராமநாதன், translit=Poṉṉampalam Irāmanātaṉ; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 1930) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and Solicitor-General o ...

in 1941. Anandam Rajendra inherited substantial assets including half share of the family home "Sukhasthan" at Horton Place, Colombo 7. They had four daughters. The marriage turned out to be a unhappy one with, Anandam Rajendra filling for divorce in 1944 and again in 1951, after he had started an affair with Yvonne Stevenson.

Cricketing career

Sathasivam started his cricketing career in his school days, playing for St. Joseph's and later for Wesley College until 1937. He then played in the club level matches, playing for the

Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club Tamil Union Cricket & Athletic Club is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They play their home games at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium. History The club can trace its roots back to the final years of the 19th century in which t ...

and later captained its team. He first played for Ceylon in 1945, when international matches started with visiting teams after the end of the war. In 1948, in a controversial decision of the Ceylon Cricket Association selected Mahadeva Sathasivam of the Tamil Union to lead the All-Ceylon XI team.

Sathasivam murder case

In 1951, Sathasivam was arrested and accused of murdering his wife Anandam Rajendra, who was found dead at her home on 9 October 1951. He was acquitted after a twenty-month sensational trial, having spent twenty-months in

remand prison Remand, also known as pre-trial detention, preventive detention, or provisional detention, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is held i ...

. He stood trial before a special jury at the Assizes Court of the Western Province, presided over by Justice Noel Gratiaen. He was acquitted by a unanimous verdict and three prosecution witnesses were sentenced to jail for perjury. His defense team was led by Dr

Colvin R de Silva Colvin Reginald de Silva (1907 – 27 February 1989; commonly known as Colvin R. de Silva) was a Cabinet Minister of Plantation Industries and Constitutional Affairs, prominent member of parliament, Trotskyist leader and lawyer in Sri Lanka. ...

. The defense flew in Sir Sydney Smith, a

forensic scientist Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

from the United Kingdom, to aid in its case. Nonetheless, he left Ceylon because of the negative publicity and Colvin R de Silva lost the Wellawatte-Galkissa seat in the 1952 general elections.

Later life

He later married Yvonne Stevenson in London, they had three children. Sathasivam settled in Singapore where he captained its cricket team, and then later, after that island's merger with its northern neighbour, Sathasivam led the

n team as well. ''The Hindu'' 7 Nov. 2005;

References & notes

External links

Mahadevan Sathasivam
at

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

Mahadevan Sathasivam
at CricketArchive
"Mahadevan Sathasivam: A forgotten prince of Sri Lanka cricket" by Theviyanthan Krishnamohan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sathasivam, Mahadevan 1915 births Malaysian people of Indian descent 1977 deaths Sri Lankan cricketers All-Ceylon cricketers The Rest cricketers Sri Lankan Tamil sportspeople People acquitted of murder Prisoners and detainees of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees Malaysian people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Singaporean people of Indian descent Singaporean people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Alumni of Saint Joseph's College, Colombo Alumni of Wesley College, Colombo Ceylon Light Infantry officers