Anura Tennakoon releases autobiography, ‘Passionately Cricket’
‘Passionately Cricket’, the autobiography of former national cricket captain Anura Tennakoon was launched on Wednesday at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC). A pre-Test era cricketer, Tennakoon captained Sri Lanka from 1975 to 1979, including at the first two Cricket World Cups, playing alongside the likes of Bandula Warnapura, Roy Dias, Duleep Mendis, Michael Tissera and Ranjith Fernando.
Gracing the launch of the biography were former national cricketers of different eras, Michael Tissera, Roy Dias, Aravinda de Silva and Chaminda Vaas, among others, where former Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Secretary, S. Skandakumar spoke highly of the former national captain.
“Anura dedicated himself in the kind of way that his focus was entirely on the wellbeing of the game and its integrity,” Skandakumar said of Tennakoon.
Tennakoon said that the idea for the autobiography was not his own, but was conceived on the insistence of a well-wisher domiciled overseas and his wife, Nelun.
“I dedicate this book to my wife, Nelun, who typed out the transcripts, so I consider this a joint venture,” Tennakoon said.
Tennakoon handed over the first copy of his book to his former captain Michael Tissera, while also issuing copies to other former cricketers Aravinda de Silva, along with the sponsor of the book. The book is available in English and Sinhala languages.