De Zoysa (pictured) described de Silva as “a very relaxed person full of fun and jokes”

Image courtesy of: businesstoday.lk

Bandula de Silva, a former secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), as it was known back in the day, passed away in Colombo on Tuesday.

De Silva played a prominent role during the time when Sri Lanka were fighting tooth and nail to become an International Cricket Council (ICC) Full Member nation.

“Bandula was a very relaxed person full of fun and jokes. He never got angry with anyone,” Sri Lanka team manager Michael de Zoysa, who served as de Silva’s assistant during the time he was BCCSL secretary, said. “One thing that stands out was that he got everybody to do the work delegated to them. He was secretary at a time when cricket was broadened in the country, when the doors were open for cricketers outside Colombo to compete for places in the national team.”

During de Silva’s tenure as BCCSL secretary, his house on Gregory’s Road in Colombo was used as the board’s headquarters. In fact, de Silva’s personal phone was used as the board’s telephone and he even bore the cost of all international calls.