Deepal Gunawardane was an outstanding sportsman at Dharmapala College Pannipitiya where he excelled at cricket as a left-hand batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler and at athletics where he clocked 11.2 seconds in the 100 metres. He continued his cricket career with Police SC representing them from 1989-2003 (captain in 1996/97) before turning his attention to becoming a cricket umpire. In the recent Premier panel examination conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket for the season ending 2006-07 Gunawardane finished as the third best in the country. Was standby umpire for the first Test between Sri Lanka and England at Kandy in 2008. Officiated in Elite Cup under 19 international tournament in Malaysia in 2007.
Sa'adi Thawfeeq February 2008