Veteran cricket commentator Premasara to be felicitated

Premasara Epasinghe is a veteran cricket commentator and senior journalist considered as an ionic radio personality in Sri Lanka The 86 year old veteran was a cricketer ,teacher , Administrator attached to cricket and Banker well as leading cricket commentator.

late Tony Greg the very popular cricketer and commentator said Premasara Epasinghe has’ a golden voice ‘and his ability to describe the action in the middle is exceptional .His contributions to Sunday Observer and Daily News as well as Dinamina were valuable.

The renowned commentator Premasara Epasinghe will be felicitated at Nalanda College’s Malalsekera Hall on Wednesday, December 6, at 3 pm and all past test ,one day cricketers,old boys of Nalanda ,cricket administrators will grace this event which is organised by Nalanda Past Cricketers Association headed by Nihal Pathirage.

Premasara Epasinghe and his wife Swarna Samararatne live in their home at Nugegoda they have a son Bhagya the former S.Thomas Mt Lavinia opener in 1989 and University of Colombo in the 1990s. He is currently a Director of Finance in Canberra, Australia. His daughter Apsara Gunasekera was a Squash player but Premasara and his wife Swarna are living in the country and Premasara is keenly following Sri Lanka cricket ..He always believes school cricket is the platform for National cricket .

He represented his school Nalanda at cricket, thereafter the University, and his Alma Mater Nalanda as a teacher, Master-in-Charge of cricket, and held administrative posts in the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association and Sri Lanka Cricket

Epasinghe’s more than 50 -year-old experience as a radio cricket commentator who has seen many emerging cricketers, expressed his views on the present day school cricket set up which cannot be classed on the same level as what it was some years ago.When he was at school he was a wicket keeper batsman after leaving school he played for University of Sri Jayawardenepura and later joined Bank of Ceylon and Sampath Bank.

“I personally feel that you have to pay more emphasis on youth cricket. If you are thinking of the future of Sri Lanka cricket you will have to fetch them young The best age is by about 11 years . In the good old days, may be in the 1980’s we had these under 11 tournaments and the Masters-in-Charge and the Coach instilled discipline, fair play and guided them on how to play the game. Today in limited overs cricket they try to stop scoring runs rather than taking wickets and trying to win by hook or crook.

Epasinghe said I am the one who spotted the late Anura Ranasinghe who was a fine cricketer. He was playing cricket at the Kirulapone Park, while I was going to the ‘pola’ on a Sunday. He had the natural instinct. I didn’t know that he was attending Nalanda where I was teaching. I got him down and trained him. His natural talent was amazing and I did not want to correct his batting style. Then I consulted my coach the late . Gerry Gooneratne to have a look at this boy. He said: ‘Epa’, this is a future champion and one advice I could give you is do not try to meddle with this boy’s natural ability and try to build his natural talent.

In 1969 a Sri Lanka Under 19 team went on tour to India under Anandian Mithra Wettimuny and fared extremely well, winning the unofficial Test series and impressed everyone. Epasinghe was a member of the Selection Committee at that time, and the others were P.M. Jayatilleke (Chairman, Thurstan), Edmund Dissanayake (Wesley), Orville Abeynaike (S. Thomas’), Angelo Rayer (St. Joseph’s), A.D. Karunananda (Ananda) and John de Saram (Royal, Colombo). The selectors did an excellent job in finding the right combination. In fact that was a tour which provided the base for Sri Lanka gaining full Test status. It was an amazing tour for the youngsters which produced the first two Test captains Bandula Warnapura and Duleep Mendis.There was no favouritism, I suggested only the names of Nalandians Bandula Warnapura and Leslie Narangoda.

The other members of the team were Mithra Wettimuny (Captain, Ananda), Asitha Jayaweera (Royal – Vice. Captain). Ananda Jayatilleke (Ananda), Jagath Fernando (Royal), J. Thalaysingham (Royal), Bandula Warnapura and Leslie Narangoda (Nalanda), Rory Inman (St.Peter’s), Wendel Kelaart, Manik de S. Wijeratne (St. Joseph’s), Duleep Mendis (St. Sebastian’s), Ajith de Silva (Dharmasoka), Priyantha Jayasekera (Prince of Wales) Diyanesh Rajaratnam (Thurstan) and Ajith Mendis. . ., Nalanda has produced dozens of cricketers because it had a good base, especially junior cricket where they have been champions throughout. But today, I feel sorry as a Nalandian, because I very rarely see a boy coming through from Nalanda. . Mahela Jayawardene came from Nalanda to represent the country. He was extraordinary talented. Prior to that it was Roshan Mahanama and Asanka Gurusinha and Kumar Dharmasrna the three dedicated cricketers produced by Nalanda . Arjuna Ranatunga who won the World Cup in 1996 was coached by people like Lionel and Nelson Mendis. They were top class coaches and strict disciplinarians. . said Epasinghe .

Premasara Epasinghe should be role model for all Sinhala cricket commentators and no one can match him.

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