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With A Few Choice Words: Appreciating FC de Saram’s Cricket Career-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Eardley Lieversz, a reprint from the Royal Cricket Souvenir, 2005, where the title runs “With a few choice words, Royal cricket under F. C. de Saram’s Tutelage” Many distinguished old boys have coached Royal at cricket.  Names such as “Chippy” Gunasekera, Dr. C.H. Gunasekera, Barney Gunasekera, Mahes Rodrigo, Gamini Salgadu, H.T. Gunasekera and Channa Gunasekera immediately spring to mind.  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.  All of them were good at their job.  However, 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. young FC de Saram on song I first set eyes on the Colonel ...