Ruchira Palliyaguruge
Ruchira Palliyaguruge is a Sri Lankan umpire and a former first-class cricketer. Ruchira played for Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, Chilaw Marians Cricket Club, Saracens Sports Club, Nondescripts Cricket Club, Old Cambrian Sports Club. Palliyaguruge bowled right-arm medium pace and batted right-handed. Playing mostly club cricket, he has over 200 first-class wickets to his name and also over 4000 runs in a career that began in 1989/90.
Ruchira Palliyaguruge's debut One Day International umpiring was between Sri Lanka and Australia at Hambantota in 2011. Ruchira's umpiring career has been marked with controversy. According to an article in The Sunday Times: Senior cricket umpires have petitioned Sri Lanka Cricket that umpires such as Ruchira Palliyaguruge named for the ICC Panel have not been done according to merit.''
He was selected as one of the twenty umpires to stand in matches during the 2015 Cricket World Cup. He stood in the final of the 2016 Asia Cup. In November 2016 he won Sri Lanka Cricket's award for International Umpire of the Year.
In 2018, in the 2nd Test Between Bangladesh and West Indies in Dhaka Palliyaguruge stood his first match as a Test umpire.
In April 2019, he was named as one of the sixteen umpires to stand in matches during the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
