Top umpires set precedence by rejoining ACUSL

PRIYAN DE SILVA - Matara SportsCorrespondent

Thirty one top umpires including T H Wijewardena, Ruchira Palliyaguru, Deepal Gunawardena, Gracien Liyanage, Prageeth Rambukwella, Kapila Kottachchi, Sena Nandaweera and Asanga Jayasuriya have rejoined the Association of Cricket Umpires of Sri Lanka (ACUSL).

The ACUSL formed 69 years ago is the premier cricket umpires association in the island.

Members who differed in opinion with those who held office split up and formed different associations from time to time.

This factorization had detrimental effects on the quality of umpiring and the game as well.

When incumbent president of the ACUSL Nihal Pathirage was elected to office in 2011 it was his vision to unite all these factions. Signing an MOU between The ACUSL and Association of Professional Cricket Umpires (PCU) on 1st February last year was the first step in making this vision a reality.

The 31 umpires, some of international standing who believed that rejoining the ACUSL and bringing cricket umpiring in Sri Lanka under one association was better than memorandums of understanding have set the precedence.

"The ACUSL has a membership of 480 and is the largest single umpires association in the island. We conduct regular training programs and workshops to help our membership to perform their duties on and off the field. We will maintain the highest possible standards at all times" said Kapila Jayalath secretary of the Association.