I became a member of DMCC in 1971… the year I joined Ingestre Group as a Trainee.
There was a 9 hole golf course and a multitude of white planters who were superintendents in the vicinity.
A rare thing upcountry was that the club boasted of a turf wicket for cricket.
I captained the DMCC cricket team in 1974/75.
Played rugger for the club in the Clifford cup premier tournament in 1974 and 1975.
Jack Hobbs the famous English cricketer who played at Darrawella named his house in England as Darrawella as he was so thrilled with the beauty of the settings. He donated his hat to the club.
Patchy Bulankulame, a young superintendent on Darrawella Estate, Upali Wijeyesekere and I being young SDs, broke complete tradition by wearing the white national dress at the annual monsoon dance in 1974 much to the chagrin of many a British planter!! But we were very proud to dorn the national attire to a dance being the first time that anyone had that courage.!!
Wije was the famous club steward. The joke was that despite wearing a hearing aid, he still had Selective hearing …. heard everything when a salary increase was discussed for him !!
I do remember in the very competitive cricket match in 1971 against arch rival Dimbulla club, Yasa Ratnayake in desperation to get a wicket, bowled under arm to Chula Samarasinghe when I was at the nonstrikers end. Chula walked up to the umpire and wanted to know how many times the bowler had to bounce the ball !!
The highest plantation traditions were maintained at this club and to-date remains one of the few functioning planter’s clubs thanks to some energetic members who believe in maintaining a beautifully aquired inheritance of a by gone era.
May the club and its stalwarts be blessed.
G D V Perera.