Halambage Premasiri



Halambage Premasiri, also known as H. Premasiri (24 February 1962 – 12 August 2016) was a Sri Lankan first-class cricketer, entrepreneur and president of the Galle District Cricket Association. He was shot dead near his residence in Ambalangoda while he was the president of the Galle District Cricket Association. His murder remains unsolved.

Biography
Premasiri was born on 24 February 1962 in Colombo. He studied at the Dharmasoka College in Ambalangoda.

Career
Halambage played 70 first-class cricket matches and 5 List A matches for Ruhuna and Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club.



Controversial appointment
On 28 July 2016, Halambage Premasiri was appointed as the president of the Galle District Cricket Association after being secretary of the association for some time. The appointment came during a period of turmoil in the Association. Sri Lanka Cricket disagreed with the appointment and ordered fresh elections for 27 August 2018.

Standing Firm Against Pitch Fixing
While serving as the President of the Galle District Cricket Association he was reported to have spoken against possible probabilities of the Galle pitch fixing scandal, according to Al Jazeera.

The News First Article

......On 3 February 2016, Godfrey Dabare who is currently the Manager of the International Venues and Facilities at Sri Lanka Cricket, had issued a memo to Halambage Premasiri before the second test against Australia. The internal memo calls for 15 member team be appointed as staff for the Galle International Cricket Stadium. Among the 15 names, is Tharindu Indika who is implicated in the Al Jazeera documentary for pitch-fixing.

It was this memo that states the appointment of Tharindu Indika as Assistant Manager of the Galle International Cricket Stadium for the first time. In his response to Godfrey Dabare, Halambage says it would be unwise to make any changes in staff as the current staff and curator had well over 15 years in experience.

Halambage on 25 February 2016, calls on Godfrey Dabare to reconsider the request given the recent match-fixing allegations against Jayananda Warnaweera causing disrepute to the Galle International Cricket Stadium.

However disregarding this letter, the 15 member staff named by Godfrey Dabare was appointed through a letter signed by the CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket on 29 February.....

https://www.newsfirst.lk/2018/05/30/halambage-premasiri-homicide-and-match-fixing/

Murder
On 12 August 2016, Halambage Premasiri was murdered by two individuals in a white motor car near his residence in the Manimulla area in Ambalangoda. He was shot dead by two suspects( Kande Kalasi Udaya Kumara also known as Podi Paul and another Dasun Manawadu) while he was driving home with his 12-year-old son.

Reports suggested that his controversial appointment and the legal dispute over the elections may have been factors in the murder. He was killed just after the conclusion of the 2nd Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle which was organised by the Galle Cricket Association.