Former first-class player and current secretary of Galle Cricket Club (CC) Gajaba Pitigala appeared before the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Saturday (June 6) in an ongoing inquiry related to alleged ticket selling fraud, Cricket Age reliably learns.
The SLC is carrying an investigation against the Galle CC on various allegations, including ticket selling scam.
“Mr. Pitigala appeared before a committee with his lawyer on Saturday. The Board was already carrying the investigation against Galle CC on the charges of selling illegal tickets during Sri Lanka’s home series in past and now one more case has been added in the ongoing inquiry” a top SLC administrator told Cricket Age.
The newly added case is related to England’s famous Barmy Army. On May 15, Cricket Age had published that a group of 11 English cricket fans has approached SLC President Shammi Silva seeking his intervention after Galle Cricket Club Delayed in refunding membership tickets money of the canceled two test match series in March due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
England spent around 10 days in Sri Lanka in March, and even completed one three-day warm-up match, before Covid-19 forced the second practice game to be called off midway through. They were supposed to play two Tests, in Galle and Colombo, as part of the World Test Championship (WTC).
Christopher Mycock, one of the member of the touring group of 11 Englishmen, has sent a letter to SLC President Shammi Silva, seeking his intervene in refunding £1,320 from the Galle CC after the cancellation of the series.
In the letter, which is under Cricket Age possession, Christopher has mentioned that they purchased five-day membership for the Galle test match from Galle CC office on the day before the series was abandoned.
“We had purchased a 5 day membership for the test, inclusive of Pavilion access, free WIFI, access to the members bar for £120 GBP pee person. On March 12, one of our group member Ruth Pollock visited the Galle CC and paid £1,320 for 11 tickets. Unfortunately, on the following day, March 13, the tour was cancelled due to the virus outbreak” the letter reads.
Christopher, in the letter, has further added that initially Galle CC agreed to refund the money, but later stopped responding to their repeated attempts through the email.
“First, Galle CC told us that the cash had already been deposited at their local bank. Later, on March 18, after holding an internal meeting Galle CC confirmed the refunding of the money. However, when we asked for the money after returning to UK, Galle CC stopped communicating with us and now we have realized that the refund agreed by them will not be forthcoming” the letter reads further.
Pitigala, a controversial figure, is currently serving as one of the national junior selector as well.
“These charges are serious and is detrimental to Sri Lanka Cricket image internationally. Being one of the most prominent cricket club, it’s sad that some of these current official are deteriorating the image of the club. The board has appointed an committee and no culprit will be spared” the top SLC administrator added further.
