Former cricketer Reddie Mallawarachchi passed away after a brief illness on Monday and a private funeral was held at the Pellawatte Church in Battermaulla yesterday. He was 75-years-old at the time of his death.

Reddie played cricket for Nomads under D. H. de Silva and also played league cricket in England.

He possessed a wealth of knowledge on cricket and apart from cricketers and cricket administrators, he closely associated with the bigwigs of the state and the Catholic Church, being in constant contact with top politicians and key figures of the church.

A voracious reader, Mallawarachchi’s favourite book was ‘The Art of Captaincy’, by Mike Brearley.

His advice for up and coming cricketers and cricket writers were many and usually he was the first person to call and congratulate a good piece.

His son, Gihan Mallawarachchi, also played cricket and captained St. Joseph’s College, Colombo.