The tale of two Might Have Beens
This is a brief story of two Antonian cricketers who were destined for great things as teenagers but chose not to pursue their impending glory. One was a fiery fast bowler that Ceylon cricket loved to have, and the other was a top-notch opening batsman who showed maturity and class even as a teen. They belonged to two separate generations and their careers never crossed paths, but yet they had the talent to bring combined credit to both the country and school, likes of which we never saw until the legendary Murali emerged in early 1990s.
For the benefit of all Antonians in particular, and the general cricket loving public, this story has to be told as both Jack Robertson and Marlon Von Hagt went into oblivion at an age as young as 22.
Jack Robertson
Jack represented college only for two years (1968 and 1969) having learnt the basics while at St Thomas’ Matale. At the age of 16, and while at St Thomas’, Jack represented the National School Cricket Association team against the touring London Schoolboys team in 1966.
It was no coincidence that Jack joined college soon after Fr Aiden De Silva moved from St Thomas’ Matale to become our Principal in the mid 1960s. “I joined St Anthony’s at the wish of Fr Aiden” says Jack. Although he didn’t meet with much success in his first year at college (capturing 17 wickets for the season), Jack was quick to put fears into the minds of batsmen, being touted as the fastest bowler in school cricket at the time. The opportunity that college gave him to play against top school teams raised his belief that he ‘belonged’ at the highest level. Jack had better success in the second year with 31 wickets in 9 games, with 5 for 31 against Dharmaraja as the best. To this day, Jack speaks fondly of how college changed him as a person. “the two years I spent at St Anthony’s made me the person I am today. The lessons I learnt as a boarder and the support from everyone at the time changed me from a shy young boy to a well-rounded confident man”.
No sooner the school cricket season was over in 1969, Jack was signed on by the Colts Cricket club to play ‘first-class’ cricket. He catapulted to the top in only his first year of cricket at this level, emerging as the one of the best and most feared fast bowlers in Sri Lankan cricket. A leading newspaper reporter had this to say “If there is a distinct quality in Robertson’s bowling, it is his sheer menacing hostility. So much so that even when runs are being scored off him, he has never really been mastered. He has that uncanny knack of producing that unplayable delivery, the ball that lifts off a good length, that no batsman has been totally comfortable against him”.
Jack’s dream of representing the national team came at the age of 21 in January 1971, when he was picked in the ‘All-Ceylon’ team under Anura Tennakoon that toured South India for the Gopalan Trophy. His match bag of 12 for 65 against BRC on the eve of this tour was just the tonic the team needed. Jack played against the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath during this tour and firmly justified his inclusion with some creditable performances.
In 1972, the 22 year old Jack put his family before a promising cricketing career, and migrated to Australia with his parents and 6 siblings. His father was the last in his family to remain in Ceylon, and was adamant not to leave his homeland. However, when the situation in the country got very tough, he reluctantly decided to join his wider family Down Under. Jack played a season for Prahran and gave up cricket after a few months due to work pressures.
Marlon Von Hagt
Marlon emerged during a period Sri Lankan cricket was ‘buzzing’ as a new test nation. His rise was a little more meteoric than Jack’s, helped by greater opportunities being presented to him. As a 13 year-old, Marlon broke into school cricket with a polished innings of 52 against a Ranjan Madugalle led Royal College. In his first season and as the baby of the side, Marlon caught the eye of many cricketing journalists including Daily Mirror reporter M.E. Marikar, who wrote “In Marlon Von Hagt, a 13-year old opening batsman, the Antonians possess a batsman of the class of Sri Lankan opener A.C.M Lafir. Much should be heard of Marlon in the future”.
Having played in the First XI for 6 years, Marlon had the unique distinction of winning the coveted eagle on five consecutive occasions. This paid testimony to Marlon’s consistent batting performances over the five years. His epic 224 vs Dharmaraja was a highlight, along with the rare feat of scoring three centuries against Trinity.
In 1981, Marlon tasted his first international experience when he represented the Sri Lanka schools XI led by Navin De Silva against Melbourne Cavaliers side that included Dave Whatmore. Marlon attributes his fighting innings of 82, out of a total of 192, for Sri Lanka Under 19s against Tamilnadu n January 1983 as the turning point in his career. As an 18-year-old, he played his maiden representative game for Sri Lanka against the touring Zimbabwe in December 1983. A couple of months later, Marlon toured Australia with the Under-19 team as the vice-captain to Aravinda De Silva and scored a magnificent 121 in the third test at the MCG. He played against the Waugh brothers, Mark Taylor and Craig McDermott.
Legendary batsman Aravinda De Silva, wrote in his autobiography “without a doubt, one of the most promising young batsmen in Sri Lanka in early 1980s was Marlon von Hagt. Whatever capabilities I had he could match, and better.”
Marlon toured England with the Sri Lankan squad in July 1984, and was unlucky to be the 12th man for the Lords’ test despite scoring consistently on tour. The highlight was the superb catch he took at gully to dismiss Ian Botham. The Australian tour followed soon after and although he played his first ODI at Perth, Marlon came home dejected due to a lack of opportunities. As an excellent fielder, he felt his 12th man duties designated him to be a regular substitute throughout this tour. In hindsight, the treatment Marlon got on this tour was responsible for his early exit from cricket. In February 1986, as the captain of a Colt’s XI, Marlon played one of his best international innings, scoring a brilliant 88 against a Pakistani attack that included Imran Khan and Wasim Akram.
At the age of 22, Marlon resigned to his conviction that he was never going to play for Sri Lanka. He pursued a course in IT and soon after work opportunities took him overseas.
In 1990, Marlon had a stint in Singapore where he broke just about all the national batting records, becoming the first batsman in Singapore to score more than 1000 runs in a season, and in the process scored Singapore’s first double hundred. His tally for the season read an impressive 1074 runs in only 10 innings at a staggering average of 268.5, with two double hundreds and two other big hundreds.
Marlon ended up in New Zealand soon after, and played division one cricket in the Auckland district for Waitemata. He was on the verge of breaking into the Auckland side, when work commitments took him away to Samoa. Marlon and wife Carin moved over to Melbourne in late 1994 and never looked back. After playing a few seasons for Burwood in the Dunstan shield. Marlon’s only cricket commitment these days is to represent our OBA at the annual encounter against Trinity, and also guiding young son Marcus as he learns the intricacies of the game. Even now, at the age of 48, Marlon’s vintage cover drives are a treat to watch.
Both Marlon and Jack are now living in Melbourne and have met success in their own chosen careers in IT and photography respectively. They continue to support college at every opportunity they get. Tonight, we are honoured to have the patronage of these two might have been mega stars.
