WHAT I OWE TO OUR COACH BY ROBERT
SENANAYAKE
My cricketing career at S. Thomas' College
started in 1927 when I had the privilege of being a member of the
team which, under the captaincy of the late Roy Hermon, defeated the
all conquering Australian team from Adelaide, and ended with my
departure to further my studies at Cambridge in 1932. All throughout
this period Mr. Percy Cooke was the cricket coach. Although he
himself had won his cricketing colours at S. Thomas' College, he
could not claim to be among the great cricketers produced by this
College, nor could he claim to be among the outstanding coaches of
cricket. Yet, there was no limit to the sacrifices that he was
prepared to make in the name of cricket, nor was there anyone who
could claim to have loved his Alma Mater more.
In recollecting my association with him three
incidents stand out very clearly. In relating these incidents I will
leave out names of other parties concerned in order to avoid any
embarassment to anyone. I can, however, vouch for the correctness of
the facts.
The first occurred very early in my cricketing
career. I happened to be a Sergeant of the Junior Cadets and Mr.
Cooke was a Lieutenant in the Ceylon Cadet Battalion. On the eve of
the drill competition, which was annually held at the Rifle Green, I
was summoned by him to receive last minute instructions. At the same
time one of the senior members of the cricket team had also been
summoned on some minor disciplinary matter. What would have normally
been disposed of in a few minutes, took a chaotic turn. Mr. Cooke,
perhaps to impress the junior cadet sergeant that stood by, adopted
a rather uncalled for attitude which was foreign to him, but with
the unfortunate result of him being subjected to great humiliation
and disrespect at the hands of this cricketer, which no teacher or
coach could possibly endure. There was no doubt in my mind that the
senior cricketer's days at S. Thomas' College were over. No master
could tolerate such an attitude. That evening I mentioned this
incident to our captain and we both came to the same conclusion that
our team mate will be expelled next morning. The following day Lt,
Cooke and my squad took train to Colombo and detrained, as was
customary on these occasions, at the Slave Island Station. While
marching my squad from Slave Island to Rifle Green, Lt. Cooke fell
in step with me and requested me to forget the incident of the
previous day. He went on to explain that the College could not
afford to lose the services of such a good cricketer and that the
cricket team and the College was all that mattered to him. Needless
to say I was happy not to lose our team mate, but was astonished
beyond words at the sacrifice he was prepared to make and the
humiliation he was prepared to suffer in the name of cricket and the
College.
The second incident took place a few years
later. I was captain of the College team and we had in our team a
really first class batsman who had a couple of centuries to his
credit. Just a few days before the Royal-Thomian match our
cricketing star had disappeared without any trace whatsoever. He
had not been seen in his dormitory the whole day and now that
evening had fallen Mr. Cooke was absolutely frantic. He could not
imagine our taking on the powerful Royal team, which included the
great Gunasekaras and the de Sarams in their ranks, without our
star. He endured this state of affairs till darkness
fell and sent for me. He was the very proud owner of a small Fiat
2-seater car which he treasured, but as far as he was concerned, the
circumstances did not allow for sentiment. He ordered me to take his
car and search every nook and corner for our star cricketer and
somehow or other to see that I had him back in the dormitory before
morning. He assured me that he would cover my tracks during my
absence. It is a long story of how I eventually tracked down our
cricketing star, but I did so towards the early hours of the morning
and had him back in the dormitory before dawn. I was amazed to find
how scrupulously he had covered our tracks. Every detail had been
attended to and our absence was not even noticed. There was no limit
to which he would not go for the sake of cricket. That included even
the breaking of College rules if he felt that it was in the interest
of cricket.
When it comes to cricket, he would even indulge
in a little "blackmail" if he felt that it was in the interests of
the College and cricket. This brings me to my third incident. I
believe it was in 1930 or 1931 that our team travelled to Kandy to
play Trinity College. Mr. Cooke accompanied the team which travelled
by train. Somewhere along the journey the team retired to the
refreshment car. A few members of the team, just for the sake of
being different, pooled the little money they had and bought a few
bottles of beer and some lemonade. They partook of this shandy with
an air of doing something superior. Unfortunately, Mr. Cooke came
into the refreshment car soon after that and the whole team was
unceremoniously bundled out and sent back to our compartment. He
joined us a short while later, some say that the delay was due to
him having consumed the remnants of the beer but I personally would
not vouch for this. It was a different Percy Cooke that stood before
us. He was red in the face - whether it was due to the beer or anger
I could say - and he raged at us for a full 15 minutes and finished
up by saying that he was going to report this matter to the Warden
as soon as the team got back. There was little doubt amongst us that
we all stood to be expelled whether we partook of the beer or not.
Of course he added, as if on second thoughts, that he would forget
the incident if we defeated Trinity. Now this was rather;
difficult task as I believe we had not beaten
Trinity for the past 10 years. Yet we felt that if we did
sufficiently well and did not lose the match, Mr. Cooke would relent
and forget the incident. We arrived at Trinity College that evening
a rather dejected lot and half-heartedly acknowledged the greetings
of our Kandy friends. Next morning we arrived at the Asgiriya
grounds, a team united with determination. I inspected the wicket
before the toss. It appeared to me to be an excellent batting
wicket. We fortunately won the toss and I took first lease of the
wicket. My reading ha( proved correct and we built up a considerable
score with a fall of just a few wickets. I decided not to take
advantage of a tired Trinity team and put them into bat for the last
hour of the day for the reason that the wicket was playing easier
and easier and there was also tell tale signs of rain clouds in the
distant sky. We went to sleep that night much easier in our minds as
there was now no possibility of defeat. That night there was a
severe downpour-someone's prayers had been answered. I declarer the
next morning and Trinity was caught on a drying wicket. They
succumbed to a paltry score in their first innings. Although they
made a determined and courageous fight back in the second innings
when sent in again, the odds were very much against them and we won
the match comfortable with many wickets to spare. Mr. Cooke was a
transformed personality. Yes, the Thomian team was a very good side.
It was composed of a set of perfect boys that he had the good
fortune to coach. He bestowed every possible praise on us - the
incident of the train had never taken place.
Mr. Cooke was truly a very remarkable man. He
played the game the only way he knew-not with the bat, not with the
ball, but with his heart.
"When the one great scorer comes to write
against your name, He writes not how you won or lost, but how you
played the game."
Mr. Cooke is no more with us but I shall always
remember him as a kind teacher, a tirelea coach and above all, a
very good friend.
ROBERT P. SENANAYAKE
