{"id":115697,"date":"2023-06-08T17:16:49","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T17:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=115697"},"modified":"2023-06-08T17:17:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T17:17:30","slug":"with-a-few-choice-words-appreciating-fc-de-sarams-cricket-career-by-michael-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/with-a-few-choice-words-appreciating-fc-de-sarams-cricket-career-by-michael-roberts\/","title":{"rendered":"With A Few Choice Words: Appreciating FC de Saram\u2019s Cricket Career-by Michael Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"

With A Few Choice Words: Appreciating FC de Saram\u2019s Cricket Career-by Michael Roberts<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Source:<\/span><\/strong>Thuppahis<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Eardley Lieversz,<\/strong>\u00a0a reprint from the\u00a0Royal Cricket Souvenir<\/em>, 2005,\u00a0where the title runs \u201cWith a few choice words, Royal cricket under F. C. de Saram\u2019s Tutelage\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Many distinguished old boys have coached Royal at cricket.\u00a0 Names such as \u201cChippy\u201d Gunasekera, Dr. C.H. Gunasekera, Barney Gunasekera, Mahes Rodrigo, Gamini Salgadu, H.T. Gunasekera and Channa Gunasekera immediately spring to mind.\u00a0 To that illustrious list may be added relatively recent old boys such as Nihal Kodituwakku, Vijay Malalasekera, Dilip Somaratne (who coached Royal to successive victories in the early nineties) and Nirmal Hettiaratchy.\u00a0 All of them were good at their job.\u00a0\u00a0However, none of them had the mystique of Colonel Derrick de Saram (aka FC, Derrick, and Colonel) whose last coaching stint with Royal was from 1968 to 1974.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"elanka\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

young FC de Saram on song<\/span><\/p>\n

I first set eyes on the Colonel in the late fifties at the CH & FC clubhouse, across the road from Royal\u2019s practice turf, engaged in witty banter with fellow old Royalist, Lal de Silva.\u00a0 I was intrigued by their almost courtly repartee and good-natured ribbing.\u00a0 Even then I was overawed by his larger than life persona.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For the benefit of younger readers, Royal won three of the four Royal-Thomians F.C. de Saram played in, including the year he captained (1931).\u00a0 In 1931, he scored 140 and took 6 for 52 in the Thomian second innings.\u00a0 He played alongside luminaries such as Barney Gunasekera, Russell Heyn and future Ceylon captain, Sargo Jayawickrema.\u00a0 He was coached by \u201cChippy\u201d Gunasekera, whom he revered.\u00a0 He also represented Royal in rugby and tennis, was head prefect, and took out the Dornhorst Prize for the most outstanding student.\u00a0 He went on to represent Oxford, and was the fourth Asian, and first Sri Lankan, to obtain a cricket blue from one of the prestigious universities of Britain.\u00a0 He also obtained a tennis blue.\u00a0 In 1934 he scored 128 out of a total of 218 against the touring Australians.\u00a0 He turned down an invitation from the MCC to tour the West Indies in 1934-5.\u00a0 When he retired in 1957, he had scored 63 hundreds representing Royal, the SSC, Oxford, the Minor Counties and All Ceylon.\u00a0 In 1981, when Sri Lanka gained test status, no Sri Lankan cricketer had scored more centuries.\u00a0 He captained the SSC for a long time, led Ceylon in two Gopalan Trophy encounters, and in 1952 captained a combined test team vs. the MCC.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"elanka\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Pic courtesy of Lionel Gunasekera<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A successful coup<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel\u2019s involvement in an attempt to torpedo the ship of state in the early sixties only increased his heroic stature.\u00a0 And by the end of the decade he had engineered a successful coup in wresting the Senanayake Shield from St. Thomas\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the 1967 season Royal cricket was in disarray after an embarrassing performance in the Royal-Thomian.\u00a0 Although overflowing with talent her cricket lacked focus and direction.\u00a0 Even with the best will Royal seemed unable to reverse STC\u2019s dominance of the sixties.\u00a0 However, change was in the air.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ranjit Gunasekera, one of Royal\u2019s finest cricket minds acceded to the captaincy.\u00a0 John de Saram, the master-in-charge with the Midas touch, who had, commencing with the under XIV, brought out the best in Royal cricketers, took over the administration of the first XI.\u00a0 And two former captains and a distinguished ex Royal cricketer, persuaded the Colonel to take over as head coach.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1968, for the first time in the sixties, Royal dictated a Royal-Thomian.\u00a0 Royal would have won in 1970, as she did in 1969, if rain hadn\u2019t intervened.\u00a0 In 1971, despite the loss of playing time due to rain, STC hung on for her dear life.\u00a0 And it was only a century by Duleep Mendis, plucked out of St. Sebastian\u2019s in the wake of STC\u2019s loss of 1969, which enabled STC to share the hours in 1972.\u00a0 Royal reverted to her dominance in 1973 and 1974.<\/span><\/p>\n

An inspirational figure<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It is easy to attribute Royal\u2019s successes to a surfeit of talent and the luck of the toss.\u00a0 However, the Colonel made a difference in little known ways.\u00a0 For instance, it was his idea to reduce the number of water breaks from two to one per session, which made all the difference in Royal-Thomians that went down to the wire.\u00a0 He also saw the merit of declaring at tea on the first day of a Royal-Thomian.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel\u2019s presence was extremely inspirational. \u00a0In the first instance his reputation preceded him and, like Churchill, he increased morale, on and off the field, even if his advice was sometimes ignored.\u00a0 And like Churchill, his humour created a wonderful camaraderie.\u00a0 His impact is best illustrated through specific examples.<\/span><\/p>\n

A magnanimous spirit<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Although the Colonel was seen as a domineering character who insisted on having his way, this was not borne out in his relationships with Royal\u2019s captains.\u00a0 In the late sixties he had to work with some headstrong captains who frequently disregarded his tactical advice.\u00a0 In fact, Royal\u2019s win over St Joseph\u2019s in 1968 was achieved amidst a most unpleasant disagreement between captain and coach.\u00a0 By close on the first day Royal were 56 ahead.\u00a0 The Colonel was insistent that Royal should bat only for 30 minutes on the second day to prevent the Josephians from getting into a defensive mode.\u00a0 This went totally against the captain\u2019s instincts who was confident that Royal\u2019s spinners would dictate terms to batsmen intent on defence and prone to pad play.\u00a0 After about an hour\u2019s play the Colonel concluded that his advice was being disregarded and was clearly annoyed at not being consulted.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t say a word except to tell the captain, after a declaration was made with Royal 150 runs ahead, that he\u2019d bet Royal wouldn\u2019t win.\u00a0 The captain then let the team in to what was going on which motivated the players to go flat out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Royal eventually won by an innings and 16 runs with half an hour to spare.\u00a0 As the captain raced back to the pavilion the first person to greet him was the Colonel who said whilst offering his congratulations \u201cWell, you won your bloody bet but next time you better do as I say\u201d or words to that effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel was man enough to admit to being wrong.\u00a0 And I suspect that he admired those who had the courage of their convictions in preference to those who uncritically accepted his advice.<\/span><\/p>\n

During a conversation held in his office along Kannangara Mawatha in 1980, with a captain he once disagreed with, the Colonel gleefully recollected the events of the late sixties, and celebrated the ex-captain\u2019s defiance.\u00a0 The Colonel had a rebellious streak in him and probably appreciated the same in others.\u00a0 Even when he disagreed with either tactics or selections he still supported the captain\u2019s right to have the final say.\u00a0 He valued adherence to principle over personal victories.\u00a0 And the idea of principle, applied to the game itself, as much as to inter-personal interaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

The game\u2019s the thing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Royal\u2019s defeat to Wesley in 1969 will long be remembered long after many of her wins are forgotten.\u00a0 Wesley declared at 260 or 9 and had Royal struggling at 67 for 4.\u00a0 The next morning Royal struggled to avoid the follow on, rallied and declared 53 runs behind.\u00a0 Wesley was at one point 45 for 7 when a sitter was dropped.\u00a0 Wesley eventually declared at 105 for 8.\u00a0 Although a token declaration, Royal made a fist of the target of 158 in 70 minutes, refusing to pull the shutters down at any stage of the innings, losing the match by 10 runs in the last ball of the match.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defeat was a poor reward for a side which took all the risks despite being in survival mode for four sessions.\u00a0 However, the Colonel was absolutely delighted with the result.\u00a0 In his \u201cchoice words\u201d as he described his speech at the post match dinner hosted by Wesley, the Colonel expressed few words of commiseration to Royal, preferring to dwell on the grandeur of the finish.\u00a0 A defeat was preferable to yet another draw, however exciting.\u00a0 What was significant is that he never once criticized his losing team.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m certain that the Colonel was glad that Royal\u2019s last man failed to negotiate the last delivery.\u00a0 And I always wondered whether a Royal win was his preferred outcome?\u00a0 Perhaps only if the runs were made off the last ball.\u00a0 And if the simple catch at gully had been held and Royal were set a simple target in even time, he would probably have obtained less joy than from the actual outcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel was satisfied that, as TM.K. Samat remarked, Royal were \u201cnear perfect\u201d in defeat.\u00a0 He understood better than anyone else the mood of the rank and file.\u00a0 One group of Royalists sang the school song all the way to Town Hall much to the consternation of Wesleyites who couldn\u2019t understand why Royal\u2019s supporters were acting like they had won.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, the Colonel\u2019s celebration of the game was preferable to an agonizing reappraisal as to why Royal lost.\u00a0 He understood instinctively that Royal had won a moral victory.\u00a0 Having lost once it would be easier to take risks in the future.\u00a0 Defeat was no longer a stigma, particularly if it was entered into magnanimously.\u00a0 By teaching us that playing the game was more important than winning, he brought us closer to victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dismissing Dijen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If any proof was needed of the Colonel\u2019s consistency of attitude it was in his reaction to his son\u2019s dismissal in the second innings of the 1969 Royal-Thomian.\u00a0 T.M.K. Samat sub headed his article on the first day of the 1968 Royal-Thomian as \u2018Royal Coach F.C. de Saram has a problem \u2013 \u201cHow to get my son out\u201d\u2019\u00a0 No one came close to Dijen\u2019s ability to save games for St. Thomas\u2019.\u00a0 When he dug in wild horses couldn\u2019t dislodge him.\u00a0 Time and time again Dijen stood between STC and defeat, and Dijon rarely let his team down.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1968 Royal dismissed Dijon for 23, but not before he and Kariyawasam had seen STC avert the follow on.\u00a0 In the final session of the 1969 Royal-Thomian Dijen had to see his team through the remaining 100 minutes to close.\u00a0 It was a situation tailor made for Dijen who played the familiar back to the wall role to perfection.\u00a0 For 42 minutes, he and Wijesooriya successfully negotiated every wile Royal came up with.\u00a0 It took something exceptional to dismiss Dijon in the nick of time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the belief that the Colonel schemed in his son Dijen\u2019s dismissal can be disputed, what is revealing is his willingness to be seen as the instrument of his son\u2019s dismissal.\u00a0 Although, he would no doubt have been proud if Dijen had forced a draw, he relished those subliminal moments which elevated the game, often at the expense of school and kin.\u00a0 Hence, his delight in Royal\u2019s loss to Wesley and his son\u2019s demise two week\u2019s later.\u00a0 Just as much as he reinterpreted the meaning of failure, seeing merit in Royal\u2019s loss to Wesley, he saw no disgrace in his son\u2019s dismissal to a magnificent catch.\u00a0 I\u2019m certain that if STC had beaten Royal in 1969 in a close game, he would not have felt let down and rued the sporting declaration.\u00a0 What disappointed the Colonel was cricket that wasn\u2019t played in the right spirit and which lacked ennobling qualities.\u00a0 To him a single moment of gallantry was worth a hundred paltry actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel reinterpreted the meaning of failure, which was less to do with defeat in the statistical sense but an unwillingness to play bravely.\u00a0 However, he did not pursue tragic grandeur for its own sake.\u00a0 In 1970 and 1971, when Royal dominated her opponents, he expected Royal to be daring in its approach without necessarily pursuing the nobility of defeat.\u00a0 However, any captain who took risks could be assured of his sympathy whatever the outcome, and irrespective of differences that may have existed.<\/span><\/p>\n

That Colonel persona<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel inspired Royal\u2019s cricketers, not by stirring speeches or stern admonishments, but through the force of his puckish personality.\u00a0 His reputation had a demoralizing effect on the opposition as he sat outside the dressing room, especially in home games.\u00a0 To quote \u201cThe sometimes ironic or caustic comments he would deliver in that plummy Oxbridge drawl were never unpleasant and rarely directed at the opposition.\u00a0 Yet they would surely have had an impact.\u201d\u00a0 With him around Royal always appeared to have more tricks up her sleeve than she actually had.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel even kept the umpires on their toes.\u00a0 Observed the master-in-charge \u201cMany a time when Royal was chasing a target and the umpires seemed to be savouring their tea-time patties and cake too deliberately, a puzzled glance accompanied by a puff of thick cigarette smoke in their direction would generally send them scurrying for their white coats.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside interference in team selection is the bane of school cricket administration.\u00a0 The Colonel nipped such attempts in the bud.\u00a0 To quote \u201dMost importantly, for a harried \u2018cricket master\u2019, the Colonel\u2019s mere presence effectively snuffed out any efforts by fond parents to press their sons\u2019 claims for selection. \u00a0The occasional pestiferous old boy anxious to pontificate on tactics used in the previous week\u2019s game suffered even shorter shrift.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"elanka\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

A loyal soul<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel has often been portrayed as a martinet who was bent on dominating those around him.\u00a0 However, he was more often hurt than hurtful.<\/span><\/p>\n

The disappointments of the 1969 season prior to the Wesley game, took its toll on one and all.\u00a0 Wrong signals were sent to the Colonel who misconstrued the captain\u2019s lack of communication as an indication that his presence as coach wasn\u2019t desired.\u00a0 The captain followed him as he wended his way to the tamarind tree, caught up with him at the mat, and did his utmost to assure him that his contribution was valued.\u00a0 Despite the captain\u2019s contriteness he initially played hard to get.\u00a0 In retrospect he was making certain that his hurt was recognized rather than trying to extract revenge.\u00a0 Eventually, he winked in characteristic manner and said that he would be back the next day.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1975 the Colonel was eased out of the coaching role.\u00a0 He paid the price for supporting the Royal captain\u2019s right to the ultimate say in selection matters.\u00a0 If the captain caved into the pressure to modify the make up of the team, he would have let his players down.\u00a0 Despite having his prefect\u2019s badge withdrawn, the captain, with the backing of coach and master-in-charge, ensured that eight regular freshers received colours.\u00a0 Between the Royal-Thomian and the limited over game the Colonel was sacrificed to appease the thwarted conspirators.\u00a0 For the second time in six years he had stood up against outside interference in the running of the team: this time he paid the price.<\/span><\/p>\n

An incomparable wit<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Even those at the receiving end of the Colonel\u2019s barbed comments considered it a badge of honour and gleefully recount them to this day.\u00a0 S. Thalayasingam, who fielded at first slip, had the safest pair of hands in the business.\u00a0 Yet, the Colonel remarked that the only reason he held on to his catches was because he was too slow to get out of the way.\u00a0 The chronicler was once compared to a member of Gandih\u2019s non-violence resistance movement on account of his passive approach to batting.\u00a0 Ajit Pasqual, Royal\u2019s captain of 1973, was won\u2019t to exclaim \u201cShall we?\u2019 when calling for a run, to which the Colonel remarked that these words were only appropriate on one\u2019s wedding day.\u00a0 These are just three examples of his keen wit.\u00a0 There are no doubt many more gems which other Royal cricketers of the era will testify to.<\/span><\/p>\n

A flair for mischief<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Prabodha Kariyawsam, ex-Thomian skipper, recalls an occasion in the early 70s when former Thomian opening bat Ajit Jayasekera had come to meet him at the SSC along with his girlfriend Jacintha whom he later married.\u00a0 When Kariyawasam introduced the lady to the Colonel, the latter queried \u201cAjit, is this the same girl I was introduced to a few weeks ago?\u201d\u00a0 There were the red faces all around at this display of his irrepressible wit.\u00a0 This takes me back to the moment at a party hosted in 1970 by Royal\u2019s vice-captain of 1969 prior to his departure to the U.K., when the Colonel repeatedly asked of a perplexed host \u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1968 the Colonel sat next to the chronicler on the benches of the Royal gym as the captain unveiled the game plan.\u00a0 While the captain held forth the Colonel alluded to a bruise he had incurred in a recent game for the SSC.\u00a0 While all eyes were on the captain the he proceeded to drop his pants and display the said bruise.\u00a0 The chronicler, to whom the Colonel\u2019s remarks were directed to, was extremely embarrassed as he tossed between loyalty to his captain and acknowledging his coach\u2019s \u201crevelations\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the best example of the Colonel\u2019s mischievous wit occurred in 1970 was when he arranged a pre big-match pep talk to Royal cricketers at the bar of either the SSC or the golf club.\u00a0 Not soon after ordering a round of soft drinks he announced that it was time for a \u201cPee\u201d.\u00a0 He then made his way to the toilet followed by the players irrespective of whether they had the same need as him or not, because they felt to do otherwise would be tantamount to an act of insubordination.<\/span><\/p>\n

A sturdy character<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I have been told that the even after a hard night the Colonel was up early to attend to a case.\u00a0 Apparently, on one occasion while driving out of his house at first light he passed his son Dijon returning home after post-cricket match revelries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading by example<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel wrote at least one book on cricket technique.\u00a0 A series on cricket technique by A.V. Fernando which appeared in the Times of Ceylon in the sixties was illustrated by photographs of the Colonel (and C.I. Gunasekera).\u00a0 However, unlike Mahes Rodrigo and Channa Gunasekera, who were still close to their prime, and were won\u2019t to pad up at practice, the exemplary facets of the Colonel\u2019s batting technique were rarely observed in the flesh.<\/span><\/p>\n

Royal beat St. Sebastian\u2019s by an innings in a 1967 third term fixture with hours to spare and were preparing to take an early mark when the Colonel decided to hold a practice session in the middle.\u00a0 Further he padded up and gave us the first glimpse of what we had only read about.\u00a0 He showed us what his fabled back foot technique was all about.\u00a0 Unless the ball was a half-volley he went on his back foot and monitored the movement of deliveries before hitting them on the rise.\u00a0 Even at 55 years of age the Colonel had so much time to negotiate the likes of Chris Chitty, Jayantha Kudahetty and Nisal Mendis, whom he made look ordinary.\u00a0 Many of Royal\u2019s batting maestros of the forties admitted to inheriting their back foot technique from him.<\/span><\/p>\n

A shrewd tactician<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On the 12th & 13th of February 1977, the Colonel showed that he was not an armchair captain.\u00a0 He led the SSC in a two-day Donovan final against the Sebastianites, led by Gerald Mendis (brother of Duleep).\u00a0 SSC declared at 303 for 7 and dismissed the Sebastianites for 299.\u00a0 The SSC opening bowlers were getting blitzed but the Colonel shuffled the bowlers so skillfully that after the openers departed, no one was allowed to settle down to a long innings.\u00a0 The celebrations went on till late into the night with the Colonel and C.I. Gunasekera keeping the team spellbound with explanations of how they plotted and planned each batsmen\u2019s dismissal.<\/span><\/p>\n

When ex-Thomian captain Kariyawasam was first given the ball by the Colonel in an SSC game, he was set two short legs.\u00a0 After an over the Colonel realised that the off-spinner\u2019s deliveries were not turning but drifting with the arm.\u00a0 Said he \u201cSon from now on you will be Toshack\u201d and shifted the short legs to the off side where four catches were snapped up in the newly constituted cordon.\u00a0 Concludes Kariyawasam to whom Toshack could well have been a new brand of whiskey \u2013 \u201cBe it a field placing, a bowling change or a psychological remark while crossing for the batsman to hear, FC was a master tactician\u201d (1999 Thomian Cricket Souvenir).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Just like the Don<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Because Don Bradman and Len Hutton were so defined by their cricketing prowess, their respective skills on the piano and dance floor were little known.\u00a0 Likewise, the Colonel was a virtuoso in classical piano.\u00a0 He was best known for the French National Anthem which he could sing and play flawlessly.\u00a0 He, along with another famed pianist Robert de Saram, provided accompaniment to the Royal choir every Sunday, unfailingly.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel would never miss a concert of the famed duo Rohan and Druvi de Saram, his nephews.\u00a0 Apparently he was wont to carry a hip flask to those concerts and would sit through them to the end with a glass of brandy in his hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colonel was too modest to bring attention to his commendable skills on the keyboard.\u00a0 He preferred to project an image of a jovial cricketing intellectual, raconteur and lawyer.\u00a0 However, the sensitivity that he often showed and his delight when a game of cricket reached subliminal levels, must have owed much to his artistic temperament.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the period he was behind bars the Colonel studied Buddhism under the patient tutelage of Sylvia Gunatilleke (now in her eighties and able to confirm the classes).\u00a0 This is another instance of the cultural sensitivity which he carefully concealed.<\/span><\/p>\n

An enduring legacy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It has been almost 35 years since the Colonel left us.\u00a0 But such was his impact that it seems like only yesterday we were reveling in the atmosphere which resulted from his mix of wisdom and wit.\u00a0 He taught Thomians as much as Royalists, to rise above themselves and to cherish all facets of the game.\u00a0 His legacy is reflected not merely in the spirited approach to the game that has been handed down generations, but in the manner in which people vividly recall incidents associated with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the ultimate analysis the Colonel belonged to St. Thomas\u2019 as much as to Royal.\u00a0 Because his son represented STC, the Thomian cricketers of that era would have been more familiar with his residence at 5th Lane, than their Royal counterparts.\u00a0 And of course, he became an honorary Thomian by coaching STC from 1976 until his death in 1983 at the age of 70. \u2026..\u00a0\u00a0 Eardley Lieversz<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 ***\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0***
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE on FC\u00a0 from Eardley:\u00a0<\/strong>For the benefit of younger readers, Royal won three of the four Royal-Thomians F.C. de Saram played in, including the year he captained (1931).\u00a0 In 1931, he scored 140 and took 6 for 52 in the Thomian second innings.\u00a0 He played alongside luminaries such as Barney Gunasekera, Russell Heyn and future Ceylon captain, Sargo Jayawickrema.\u00a0\u00a0He was coached by \u201cChippy\u201d Gunasekera, whom he revered.\u00a0\u00a0He also represented Royal in rugby and tennis, was head prefect, and took out the Dornhorst Prize for the most outstanding student.\u00a0 He went on to represent Oxford, and was the fourth Asian, and first Sri Lankan, to obtain a cricket blue from one of the prestigious universities of Britain<\/strong>.\u00a0 He also obtained a tennis blue.\u00a0 In 1934 he scored 128 out of a total of 218 against the touring Australians.\u00a0 He turned down an invitation from the MCC to tour the West Indies in 1934-5.\u00a0 When he retired in 1957, he had scored 63 hundreds representing Royal, the SSC, Oxford, the Minor Counties and All Ceylon.\u00a0 In 1981, when Sri Lanka gained test status, no Sri Lankan cricketer had scored more centuries.\u00a0 He captained the SSC for a long time, led Ceylon in two Gopalan trophy encounters, and in 1952 captained a combined Test team vs. the MCC.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0A WORD OF APPRECIATION from EARDLEY<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Four former Royal captains and one former Thomian captain provided me with invaluable insights on FC and took time to examine my draft article.\u00a0 They are Ranjit Gunasekera (1968), Ajit Pasqual (1973), Sam Lawton (1974), Prasanna Kariyawasam (1975), and Prabodha Kariyawasam (1969 \u2013 1970 Thomian captain).\u00a0 Sahadevan and Jayendran Thalayasingam, who represented Royal between 1967 and 1971), FC\u2019s son Dijen (Thomian cricketer, 1967-1969) and daughter-in-law Chantal, were delighted to share their memories of FC.\u00a0 Dr. Prakash Nayagam and Prasanna Mendis assiduously researched various publications for information on FC\u2019s career.\u00a0 Tisara Gunasekera provided a valuable spectator\u2019s perspective on the 1969 Royal-Wesley game.\u00a0 This article would never have got off the ground but for the encouragement of John de Saram, the master-in-charge of Royal\u2019s first eleven from 1967-8 to 1972-1973, who, befitting someone who was more closely associated with FC than any player, provided invaluable and brilliantly articulated insights into the persona of FC, which I have used verbatim.\u00a0 Paras 1 to 3 on page 7 are all his.\u00a0 And many thanks to the incomparable T.M.K. Samat whose evocative prose enables one to recapture times gone by with freshness and clarity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"eardley\u00a0 Eardley Lieversz<\/span><\/p>\n

A NOTE from Michael Roberts<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

After mulling my options, I have chosen to place this item in THUPPAHI rather than CRICKETIQUE. This is because cricket has been of considerable significance in the international scenario for \u201cCeylon\u201d before the 1970s\u00a0 and for \u201cSri Lanka\u201d since 1972, with the victory at the World Cup in 1996 serving as a\u00a0 landmark political event.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A tenuous\u00a0 secondary reason arises from my awareness of the importance of Royal College in the political history of the island \u2014 beginning with its association with the Colombo Academy of the mid-nineteenth century where the minds of the\u201dYoung Ceylon\u201d circle around Charles Ambrose Lorenz, the Nell brothers, Charles Ferdinands and John Prins were nourished. It was here that the first questionings of colonial rule in terms of liberal political\u00a0 thought were nurtured and were expressed in such newspapers as the\u00a0Ceylon Examiner<\/em>.
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Nor should we forget tha,t in an era when any challenges to British rule were seen as \u201csedition,\u201d the fitrst challenges were elliptical; on the cricket field. This was in 1887 when the Best Local Ceylonese XI faced the local Europeans in a \u201cTest Match\u201d.\u00a0 That Ceylon side was made up of eleven Burghers (mostly from the Colts CCC based in the Pettah).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Europeans won\u00a0 that match, but by the 1930s the Ceylonese were trouncing the Europeans. So -cricket was liberating<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

REFERENCES
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

* SP Foenander,\u00a0Sixty Years of Ceylon Cricket<\/em>, 1924<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n