Shelly Wickremasinghe

Shelly Wickremasinghe, the former Bloomfield stalwart, turned 84 yesterday (November 28) and celebrated the occasion with a few relations and close associates at his residence.

Wickremasinghe had a big hand in putting Sri Lanka cricket to where it is today. He worked tirelessly with such stalwarts as P. Saravanamuttu, Robert Senanayake, Dr. N.M. Perera, and Maj. Gen. B.R. Heyn and spent their own funds to promote the game they loved best. Shelly was vice-president to the late Robert Senanayake when the latter was president of the Board of Control for Cricket.

When Bloomfield had no fixed abode it was Shelly who found the present spot for the club with a few stalwarts. Today Bloomfield is a leading cricket club in the island.

Shelly was the first Buddhist to be president of the St. Peter’s Old Boys Union. This was confirmed by Camillus Abeygunewardena, the present president of the St. Peter’s Old Boys Union. Shelly was an old boy of Kalutara Vidyalaya and captained its cricket team before joining St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya and was a member of the champion. St. Peter’s team led by Dion Wales in 1948. Recently he was presented with a silver medal by the ICC for promoting cricket at all levels.