Ryle de Soysa

Gahmini Ryle Johannes de Soysa (21 June 1917 – 13 January 2002) was a Sri Lankan first-class cricketer.

The son of Wilfred and Evelyn de Soysa, he was born at Colombo in June 1917. He was educated in Colombo at Royal College, captaining the school in a five match tour of Australia, which was the first time a school team from Ceylon had toured abroad. He later studied in England at Oriel College at the University of Oxford.[1] While studying at Oxford, he played first-class cricket for Oxford University, making his debut against Yorkshire at Oxford in 1938. He made three further appearances in 1938 for Oxford, before making a final appearance in 1939 against the combined Minor Counties cricket team.[2] While at Oxford, he toured Jamaica with a combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities team, making two first-class appearances against Jamaica.[2] For Oxford University, de Soysa scored 241 runs at an average of 26.77 and with a high score of 67.[3] The influence of Frank Woolley on his batting was noted, particularly his late cuts and driving.[1]

After graduating from Oxford, he returned to Ceylon where he coached the Royal College XI.[1] de Soysa made a final first-class appearance for All-Ceylon against India at Colombo.[2] For many years he worked for the family tea, rubber and coconut exporting business.[4] He became president of the Singhalese Sports Club in 1997, then a team with first-class status, but had to step down the following year due to ill health.[1] de Soysa died at Colombo in January 2002. His elder brother was Harold de Soysa, the first Ceylonese Bishop of Colombo.