Former Secretary of Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) BS Perera who also functioned in the Executive Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket now known as Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will make his final journey today with his cremation to take place at the General Cemetery (New Section) in Borella at 6 pm.
He passed away while on a visit to Australia last week and his body was brought home yesterday from Sydney and taken to Sri Jayawardenapura MV Kotte and his remains are now at his residence No 744, Madinnnagoda, Rajagiriya.
BS Perera was a well known personality at SLSCA that he served from 1980 to 2000 and his efforts to uplift the game at junior level was well appreciated.
He was a distinguished old boy of Ananda College and later joined the Education Department as a teacher and made his mark at Sri Jayawardenepura MV Kotte where he also served as master in charge of cricket while also acting as the team’s coach.
BS Perera is credited with creating a rapport with the Board of Control for Cricket which unlike today did very little in patronizing schools cricket.
He also had a cordial relationship with the media and a week before he passed away in Sydney, Australia BS Perera in a discussion with this writer came up with several suggestions on how to take school cricket forward.
He particularly took more interest in the welfare of school cricket in the outstations and worked closely with the Cricket Board to push forward with development plans for the benefit of both player and country.
He made certain during his tenure that players were also able to take both cricket and studies together without a conflict.
BS Perera became associated with what was called the Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway in partnership with Aravinda de Silva.
Unlike some of the present cricket officials, BS Perera put the interests of the sport ahead of personal gain and did not monopolize on foreign tours.
