Home/Photos & Videos/Planters' ClubsDarrawella Club

Darrawella Club

The Darrawella Club was founded in 1868 and is situated about two kilometres from the town of Dickoya. As are most parts of the island's hill country, its location, while not quite as spectacular as that of the Radella Club, nonetheless presents a pretty picture. Situated in a valley, the cricket and rugby field is looked down upon by the tea-field speckled hills of the impressive Wanarajah Estate. Similarly impressive, on the opposite face, the entrance to the clubhouse is embraced by the tea fields of Darrawella Estate.

The Darrawella Club is arguably the finest of the numerous clubs that were established in that era. But today, its clubhouse no longer receives the keen attentions of the past, a fate that has befallen most, if not all such institutions. Economic and social changes have reduced the usefulness or the purpose of such clubs in this day and age. Certainly, isolation was a key factor in these clubs sprouting, and then flourishing, a factor that has gradually diminished due to modern transport, roads, and communication technology, which has made accessibility to the country's cities significantly more efficient.

Yet, even today, a stroll through the silent corridors of the clubhouse; the silent library or the silent billiard room; absurdly, even a silent bar – an active imagination is not required to conjure up images of what, in reality, must have been a very lively and grandiose lifestyle.

In supplementing such an imagination, an inspection of the vast and impressive array of sporting memorabilia (mostly photographs) that adorn the club's walls, is by itself an exercise in fascination, and lays emphasis to the club's rich sporting history. As evidenced in a photograph of the DMCC and DACC teams, in their very first encounter in 1870, this rivalry is one of the island's earliest cricketing fixtures between any two teams. In this regard, the club's possession of a book containing detailed scorecards of more than sixty matches from 1872 to 1952 (matches were cancelled during some years of the two World Wars'), is remarkable, not just for its historical value, but for the dedication and painstaking manner in which the information has been recorded.

One of the Darrawella Club's most prestigious associations with cricket's historical fame, was the visit paid to it by the legendary Sir Jack Hobbs, in 1930. To date, the large personally autographed photograph of Sir Jack, in batting stance at the club grounds, is a much-revered item of memorabilia. And from some accounts, lasting impressions of Sir Jack's visit do not appear to have been a one-way street. According to former tea planter and past Club President, Dushy Perera, a hand-me-down tale at the club was that Sir Jack, upon his return to England, named his cottage "Darrawella".

Another, and an equally valued item of memorabilia is a team photograph of the MCC visit in 1934. Pitted against an Up-Country XI at Darrawella, the MCC was led by that controversial character, Douglas Jardine, who two years earlier prompted the game's most divisive incident when he introduced the infamous "bodyline" theory against the Australians. This tour of Ceylon by the MCC, which was preceded by a three Test match tour of India, was to be the last occasion that Jardine represented his country.

However, this club did not merely play host to showy cricket teams and cricketers. A photograph, accompanied by a piece of writing from the Times of Ceylon, dated 17 February 1891, recorded that three days earlier a visit was paid to the Darrawella Club by a Russian party led by the Czarevitch, later Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia!

Another of the club's captivating cache of history is the "club minutes", spanning several decades from about the turn of the twentieth century. These minutes portray an absorbing perspective on a variety of platforms, not the least being the system of values that prevailed in those times. Instances such as a member disciplined for exceeding his quota of alcohol (only just!), which was strictly rationed during the World Wars'; A summary rejection by an appalled committee to a suggestion by a member to purchase alcohol on the black market (to alleviate its short supply); members disciplined for swearing within ear-shot of ladies; discussions on, and the subsequent sanctioning of admitting Ceylonese as "full-members" – hitherto, a status reserved only for Europeans; congratulatory sentiments by the committee on Ceylon gaining its independence from the British, with some cheers, perhaps, being less hearty than others!

Also read DIGITISING THE DARRAWELLA CLUB MEMORABILIA COLLECTION... Read More>

(Click on images to enlarge)