da esoccer bet： Gerry Gooneratne, one of the finest and most respected coaches produced bySri Lanka during the last 50 years, passed away on Wednesday following a brief illness
Wisden Cricinfo staff25-Sep-2003Gerry Gooneratne, one of the finest and most respected coaches produced bySri Lanka during the last 50 years, passed away on Wednesday following a brief illness. He was 84.Gooneratne, a left-handed batsman and left-arm seam bowler, was also adistinguished cricketer, playing for St Joseph’s College for three seasons(1934-36) before joining Saracens SC and later SSC. He also played for the national side.Aged just 20, he narrowly missed out on a debut century against India,scoring 96 in an unofficial Test in Bombay in 1940-41. During the 1960s hebecame a national selector and, in 1976, was appointed chairman of the selectors.However, it was as a coach that Gooneratne made an indelible mark. Hecoached Nalanda College – one of Sri Lanka’s big cricket schools – for anastonishing 35 years.A strict disciplinarian, who fiercely opposed the introduction of limitedcricket into schools, he was also served as a national coach.