On behalf of the unsung, forgotten White-coated Gentry
Upali de Silva
I had my early education at Rahula College and St. Thomas’ College in Matara, where I excelled in Cricket, Athletics and Football. I played serious cricket for St. Thomas’ Matara where I established a ground record in Galle in 1957, by scoring a double century. After playing 1st-XI Cricket at school, I played for Matara Sports Club in the Daily News Trophy, from 1957-1960. Almost all these years, we played in the final round of this tournament.
After my career, I proceeded to India to follow a Course in Physical Education. In June 1960, I joined the Education Department as a Physical Training Instructor. In 1967, I joined the Cricket Umpires Association as a Grade III Umpire. From 1967-1999, I umpired continuously and retired in December 1999.
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During this period, I umpired in Division I, II and III matches at School and Club levels. I also umpired for the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka in Division I for a long period. I have stood along with Test umpires such as D.C. Camillus Perera, K.T. Ponnambalam, Ignatius Anandappa, B.C. Cooray and K.T. Francis at top level Club matches.
During my school career and as an Umpire, the Sri Lanka World Cup winning players were schoolboy cricketers, and I find it a privilege and honour to earn these players’ respect during my job of umpiring. But sadly, our services have never been recognised either by the Sri Lanka Cricket or the Association of Cricket Umpires in Sri Lanka. However, we regularly hear that past cricketers have been recognised for their contribution to the game, by felicitating them on and off, but sadly, we, the veteran umpires, have been overlooked totally.
I took the trouble to write to the President of Sri Lanka Cricket, but regrettably, he has failed to respond to date. I will be 80 years in April 2018, and I hope that officials related to cricket and cricket umpiring will look at us, the handful of surviving veteran umpires, and reach us while we are still breathing.
W.S. Upali de Silva
Retired Class I Cricket Umpire