CRICKET’S wily raconteur

Epasinghe is a man with a Midas touch. Like King Midas who had the power of turning whatever he touched into gold, Premasara has succeeded in everything he has touched. He is also a man who understands the uncertainty of matter both on and off the cricket field. Luck and fortune have always been with him, heaping gifts from the horn of plenty. He is a versatile man who, in his own words, is a man of many parts. Stern faced and yet amicable, he is a conqueror of many fields.

"I think I may be the only child born in the premises of the Colombo University. That was the era of the University College and the beautiful building which housed the University College at Thurstan Road was known as the "College House." My father was the Administrative Officer there and he had his quarters inside the College House. That was in October 1937 and I was born not in a hospital but at home. The address given in my birth certificate was "College House, No 94 A, Thurstan Road, Colombo."

Only child

"My father, B.R. Epasinghe, worked as a teacher before he joined the university. My mother was also a teacher and they were living off Kelaniya. They had four children, all boys, but unfortunately, they all died before they could even celebrate their first birthday. I was the last child who managed to survive. There is something unique with my name. It's so uncommon that I think I am the only "Premasara" in Sri Lanka. My father’s only brother was the chief priest at the Kollupitiya Walukarama temple and he used to read horoscopes. When he was consulted, he had given four letters and asked my parents to choose a name beginning with any one of those four letters. Instead, my parents combined those four letters together and came up with the name "pre-ma-sa-ra." It is peculiar because this particular name is not found anywhere in Sri Lanka. There is 'Premasaara' but not "Premasara,'" explained Epasinghe.

"I was a loner because I was an only child. So I used to watch a lot of cricket played at the University grounds. But there was no one to play with me. I used to throw the tennis ball at the wall and when it bounces back, I played my strokes imitating some of the cricketers that I had seen. My favourite cricket team was the Australian team which was blessed with greats like Sir Don Bradman, Ray Lindwall, Sydney Barnes, Lindsay Hassett, Keith Miller and Neil Harvey."

Premasara first went to Visakha Vidyalaya for two years. His father was very keen to send him to Royal which was very close to his home. However, his mother insisted on a Buddhist school. When his father sought the assistance of Dr. G.P. Malalasekera who was at the time the Pali Lecturer at the University College, he had no difficulty in getting the child admitted to Nalanda College. He was one time the Principal of Nalanda College.

"I joined Nalanda at Grade 3. I started playing cricket very much later in my school career. That was also by accident. When they were looking for a cricketer for Chandra House in the inter-house cricket match, I volunteered even though I did not have a formal training. I was the opening batsman in that match and I scored some 89 runs not out. Everyone was stunned by my batting performance. Thereafter Mr. Candasamy, who was the Master- in- Charge of Cricket, insisted that I should come for regular cricket practices. That's how I got an opportunity to play for the first eleven in the Nalanda team for two years from 1956-57. In 1957 we were the school cricket champions. I continued to play cricket for a long time representing the University and Bloomfield."

"While I was studying in the HSC class, my uncle the Venerable Mawittara Sri Revata Nayake Thero started a school which was named Mahanama Vidyalaya. The school was opened on May 5, 1958 with 55 students. At the beginning it was a temple school in the Walukarama Temple. He called me and said: ' you better come and teach here; Teach English to these poor children.’ I could not refuse his request and I became the first teacher there. I also helped him in planning out the building programme for the school. At that time Mr. C.P. De Silva was the Minister of Land Development and I submitted to him a memorandum requesting for land. That is how we initially got that land to build the school. The school developed rapidly and it is one of the leading schools today."

Lake House

While teaching at Mahanama, he continued his studies and passed the University entrance examination. He entered the Vidyodhaya University where he studied Sinhala, English, History and Education for his degree. After graduation he got his first teaching appointment at Sigiriya Maha Vidyalaya. Two years later he was able to get a transfer to Nalanda College, his alma mater. He is very grateful to Gunapala Wickremeratne, Principal of Nalanda at the time, who facilitated the transfer. In addition to his teaching duties, he also contributed a great deal to promote sports at Nalanda by becoming the Prefect of Games and Master- in- Charge of Cricket. Premasara is a person who has ventured into many fields in his professional career. He joined Lake House as a journalist. "I worked in Dinamina and the Daily News and Observer. I became an all-rounder, starting with sports but I also used to cover Parliament and Senate proceedings and also general news. Lake House nursed me and I am in this position thanks to Lake House.

Contribution to Buddhism

I was fortunate to have worked with people like Cecil Graham, Dharmapala Wettasinghe, Meemana Prematilleke, Carleton Seneviratne and Christe Seneviratne." Premasara is well known in Sri Lanka and abroad as a cricket commentator. "It was Mr. Livy Wijemannne, Director General SLBC at the time who introduced me to the commentary box. The first commentary I did was in 1971 at the Royal Thomian big match. I continued this work till 2011. I have done all the landmark commentaries - the First test, 50th Test, 100th Test, and 150th Test . That is a unique record. Tony Greig once told me that no one else had done the commentary on the first and 150th test in any country." With his vast experience and superb language skills, he has the ability to make the game come alive for cricket listeners.

He is an authority on cricket and has written two books on the game: Ma Dutu Cricket Lova (The World of Cricket that I Saw) and Bradman Yugaya (Bradman Era).

Premasara is very fond of Tony Greig. "He was very close to me. He was one of the most lovable personalities I have met. The two of us did the World Cup Finals at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. He did the English Commentary and I did the Sinhala Commentary. After the victory he hugged me and congratulated me on the victory. Whenever he came to Sri Lanka, I used to go and meet him. I was greatly saddened by his death." He has worked as a Media Consultant to a number of ministries. Presently he serves as a visiting lecturer at the National Institute of Business Management.

Along with Cricket, he has also developed another specialty - writing on Buddhism. For some, these two areas might appear quite unrelated. But philosophically, Premasara sees an affinity between the two. "I feel cricket is very close to Buddhism. Life's philosophy is depicted in cricket. It is about impermanence. A batsman may score a 100 today; the very batsman might get out for 0 tomorrow. Just like cricket, life is also unpredictable."

He writes regularly to newspapers commenting on various aspects of Buddhism. Last year he published a book on Buddhism titled: “Damsara.” In recognition of his contribution to propagate Buddhism, the Kotte Sri Kalyani Dhamma Maha Sangha Sabha has conferred on him the honorific title:

"Sannivedana Suri Dharmapriya." Quoting from the Dhammapada, there is one line etched in Premasara’s mind. “As a solid rock that cannot be shaken by the wind, wise man is not moved by blame or praise.”