One of the most wonderful aspects of life in Tea was the emphasis on outdoor life. Of course many joined the plantations because they enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful scenery in course of their daily work. But after they returned home they went to play tennis, or squash if they were not too far from the Club. (Badminton was not very popular these days.)
Otherwise, they would definitely drive down from far flung plantations on the weekend. Each Club had at least half a dozen rooms for the planters to overnight whenever needed. Come in for a game and then stay on for an evening at the Club.
In Cochin the Club was walking distance from most homes and sports was an integral part of life. There were annual meets between Clubs from Planting districts. There was the Anai Mudi trophy between the Cochin Club and the High Range Club in Munnar. There were also fixtures between Annamalais and Cochin, Peermade and Low Country Estates and Cochin.
One year Cochin would go up and be hosted by an up-country Club. We would stay with the Planters and many wonderful friendships blossomed over the years. I remember staying with a James Finlay (now Tata Tea) Manager and at Breakfast instead of Cereal his Butler produced Avacado and a slice of lemon – followed by toast and egg etc. But that day I learned the joy of eating Avocado with a squeeze of lemon and honey. Sublime!
The upcountry planters looked forward to their trips to Cochin. It was a chance to do some shopping, go to some nice restaurants and watch movies in air-conditioned theatres. Also the Cochinites were good hosts and could show our visitors a good time!
There would be Tennis matches and such but Cricket was the big ticket item at any of these weekends. The grand poopah of Cricket was Richard (Dick) Luff who was ably helped by his Assistant T.K. Madhav.
Both Dick and Madhav played Ranji Trophy (India’s first class Cricket tournament) and were the heroes in any match. People turned up to watch them play.
Here is an excerpt from the Hindu Newspaper published in 2015 headlined: Kerala cricket’s English connection
“Reminiscing about the British and their cricketing influence, the name of Richard Luff comes to mind. He was one of the Englishmen from Cochin who played at a higher level and represented the State three times the Ranji Trophy championship. As a right-arm medium pace bowler he made his debut for Travancore-Cochin in 1954 against Madras. He went to play for Kerala in the championship in 1957-58 and 1958-59 too.
Another Englishman who played for the State was John Gilbert Hugh Thwaites. He played two Ranji Trophy matches, against Mysore and Hyderabad in 1958-59. Thwaites, who began his career in Cochin with Harrisons and Crosfield, moved to Brooke Bond in Calcutta and thereafter to the UK.
Richard Luff played a longer innings for Kerala than Thwaites and is remembered for his extraordinary swing bowling. His best bowling analysis for Kerala was 4 for 54 in a match against Hyderabad. A six-plus-footer Luff was trim and used to open the bowling. He had a peculiar bowling action, twirling both arms and delivered off the wrong foot like the great Lala Amaranth.
In one of the State selection matches, Luff represented Central Kerala, and playing against South Kerala, which had five to six renowned State batsmen, the odds were stacked heavily against Central Kerala. Madhav recalls, “In the first innings we had put up a middling total of around 200 runs. By the time we began to bowl the North East monsoon clouds had gathered darkly overhead and it aided our swing bowlers. Luff opened the bowling with me against these stalwarts. We reduced them to 55 for six by close of play on the first day, with Luff inflicting the maximum damage. When Balan Pandit, perhaps technically one of the best batsman to have played for Kerala, came to bat Luff bowled a “widish” ball outside the off stump. The technically correct Pandit raised the bat to allow it to let go to the wicketkeeper. To his utter horror the ball swung in sharply at the very last moment and knocked his leg stump leaving him completely perplexed.”
(https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/kerala-crickets-english-connection/article7850704.ece)
The picture with article shows the players in an Up-Low country meet 1967.
Despite my enthusiasm for the sport I was never good enough to make the A team. But one time the 2 Captains asked me to act as Umpire for a High Range – Cochin match. I gave 5 LBW decisions in favour of Cochin. That was the last time I was invited to Umpire a match!
These matches and sports events culminated in amazing evenings and dinners. There was invariably a bit of a contest at the Bar between the opposing teams. That’s when I came out all guns blazing – quite often the star performer!