By A. C. de Silva

[ intro ] Sri Lanka's cricketing great of not so long ago - Sidath Wettimuny cut a pretty picture when he said that Sri Lanka's cricket has come a long way and the encouragement given to young cricketers will help them to perform better. Sidath, the third in the Wettimuny clan to play for Sri Lanka, was the chief guest at the 29th Observer-Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the year awards presentation at the BMICH on Thursday.

CRICKET AWARDS: Sri Lanka's cricketing great of not so long ago - Sidath Wettimuny cut a pretty picture when he said that Sri Lanka's cricket has come a long way and the encouragement given to young cricketers will help them to perform better. Sidath, the third in the Wettimuny clan to play for Sri Lanka, was the chief guest at the 29th Observer-Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the year awards presentation at the BMICH on Thursday.

He said that competitions such as the Observer-Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year and Outstation Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year will 'encourage the young cricketers to work harder for the greater glory of the school and the country.'

Wettimuny said that sports will also help the country in its efforts to have lasting peace and paid a glowing tribute to former President of South Africa - Nelson Mandela who was a champion mover for sports and advocated that through sports peace can be achieved in any country.

The former Sri Lanka opening batsman Wettimuny spoke glowingly about schools cricket in the country, but warned that the younger generation must be taught the true meaning of sportsmanship and its values.

In this respect, the parents and masters in charge of young juniors must tell the children that the most important thing in sports is not merely the winning or losing aspects, but the attitude adopted by the young players.

"There are great values in sports and the attitude adopted by the youngsters will help them in later life to build a better society. "The way we play the game on the field and how we conduct ourselves outside the field are equally important. Fair play and sportsmanship off the field are equally important." Wettimuny stressed.

"Play the game hard on the field, but be friends off the field." Addressing the parents, Wettimuny made a plea: "Please teach the youngsters why we play sports. Please do give some thought to play the game of cricket."

Sidath Wettimuny who was associated with inter-school cricket for quite a while, knows the value of inter-school cricket and thanked the sponsors - Bata Shoe Company and Sunday Observer for keeping the competition going for a long time.

The Observer-Bata show is so very competitive and the show "is the mother of all cricketing awards," said compere Brian Thomas for whom it was the baptism in compering the much looked forward to school cricket show. Thomas did a wonderful job in his first effort.

Brian Thomas added that the Observer-Bata schoolboy cricket competitions have brought out rich talent. Six Observer-Bata winners were in the 1996 World Cup winning team and around 14 winners have played for Sri Lanka.

A top - drawer musical show with ULTIMATE dishing out lively melodies and those two lively guest stars Ronnie Leitch and Sunil Perera of gypsies fame kept the large audience enthralled in the three-hour entertainment package. There was also the dance troupe UPEKHA who performed some eye-catching items chat-thrilled the audience. Bata's team headed by Mahil Senaratne did a splendid job in the presentation of the awards ceremony.