Fredrick Cecil de Saram | |
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Nickname(s) | Derek |
Born |
Colombo, Ceylon |
5 September 1912
Died | 11 April 1983 Colombo |
(aged 70)
Allegiance | Sri Lanka |
Service/branch |
Ceylon Army, Ceylon Defence Force |
Rank | Colonel |
Unit | Ceylon Artillery |
Commands held | Commanding officer, Ceylon Artillery |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Awards | OBE (Military Division) |
Cricket information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Batting style | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1933–1936 | Hertfordshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1934–1935 | Oxford University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricket Archive, 23 October 2015 |
Colonel Fredrick Cecil "Derek" de Saram OBE, CA (5 September 1912 – 11 April 1983) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, a Ceylon cricket captain, and an officer of the Ceylon Army. He led the attempted military coup of 1962.
Born to Frederick De Saram, a Proctor, and Myra Loos, De Saram was educated at Royal College, Colombo, where he was Head Prefect and school cricket captain. He also won the coveted Dornhorst Memorial Prize. He then attended Keble College, Oxford, where he earned Blues in cricket and tennis. He was captain of the university cricket team. After retirement, he coached his Alma Mater in Cricket. He was also actively involved with S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, and was conferred the status of being an honorary Thomian. He was cricket coach for Royal College Colombo, when his son, D. A. de Saram, played for St Thomas' as a coloursman at the Royal Thomian Cricket encounter
After his return to Ceylon, he became a barrister in his family's law firm, DL & F De Saram, one of the oldest law firms in the country. De Saram married Nedra Obeysekera, daughter of Stanley Obeysekera. They had two daughters, Tara and Oosha, who both excelled in sports at a national level, Tara in swimming and Oosha in both swimming and tennis. Julian Bolling is De Saram's grandson.
A right-handed batsman, De Saram made 128 playing for Oxford University against the Australians in 1934. The Australian side included Stan McCabe, Chuck Fleetwood-Smith and Clarrie Grimmett. In his 40 first-class games for Ceylon and Oxford University, De Saram made 2789 runs at an average of 39.84 with six centuries and a highest score of 208. He captained the Ceylon cricket team from 1949 to 1954.