WHO WE ARE

HISTORY OF THE SCORERS’ ASSOCIATION

In the year 1999, in view of the forthcoming under 19 World Cup Cricket Tournament to be held in Sri Lanka in the year 2000, the first ever formal training program for our senior scorers was conducted by Mr. Ajith C.S. Perera (ACU&S, England), the only qualified training instructor at the time. This seminar was held at the Taj Samudra Hotel over three days. Subsequently the Scorers’ Guild was established in the year 2000; this was the predecessor to the Scorers’ Section of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers. The first Scorers’ Committee was led by senior scorers Thushara Cooray, Asoka Chandrasekera, Chaminda de Silva, A. Francke, Keerthi Ranasuriya, Saman Amarakoon, M. Nandalal, and F.M. Jayawardena. Office space for meetings was provided by the NCC, Cricinfo, and other organisations, whose generous assistance is gratefully acknowledged.Subsequent to discussions with the Association of Cricket Umpires of Sri Lanka in 2001, the Scorers’ Committee became the Scorers’ Section of that body

On the 30th August, 2001, a seminar, sponsored by Janashakthi Educational Programme for Scorers, was conducted by Mr. D.A.S. Dissanayake, former Secretary of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers, at the National Institute of Sports Science, Torrington Square, Colombo 7. The Chief Guest was Mr. Bandula Warnapura, the first Test Captain of Sri Lanka, in his capacity as Director of Cricket Operations. Mr. Neville de Alwis, former Warden of S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, and President of the ACU&S also graced the occasion. The objective was to enable current scorers to achieve a high professional standard, in accordance with the Millennium Laws 2000 code, which emphasizes the importance of having two qualified scorers for a match. A secondary objective was to encourage more interested individuals to become qualified scorers. Of the 53 participants 50 sat for the final examination and 26 candidates passed the exam successfully. Among them were 7 qualified cricket umpires. On completing the exam the following 26 members were given associate member status: