OBSERVER-MOBITEL cricket contests have delivered the goods

by A. C. de Silva

CRICKET: Interest is catching up fast in this year’s OBSERVER-MOBITEL Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contest and everything points out to be fine show with more awards being presented by the sponsors, Mobitel for the winners.

There has been some outstanding performances with both bat and ball this season and as the inter-school cricket season gathers momentum with each passing week, the performances of the players in the schools as usual too will be looked into by the judges when picking the winners for the many awards that will be made at the awards ceremony.

Many are the awards at the show and knowing very well that the awards are really worthwhile ones, the competition by the various schoolboys in-almost all parts of the country keep improving with each passing week.

All followers of the game keep waiting for news of the various schoolboys who play for the schools as it is a foregone conclusion that school cricket here in Sri Lanka ranks really high when compared with the school cricket in other parts of the world.

If one just digs into the past records of school cricket it will no doubt bring out what the past stars did while they where schoolboys. There are too many names to mention when comparing the performances of the schoolboy stars in the past who were winners of the various awards in the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contest, but a name that automatically crops up is former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga. He won the top award twice in 1980 and 1982 and the experience and enthusiasm that he got from winning the trophy twice helped him to perform better in big-time cricket. Ranatunga used all the experience that he had in him and eventually helped Sri Lanka to win the World Cup - the ultimate supremacy of cricket in 1996.There are so many schoolboys who have gained much from the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contests. Take for example - the world’s most successful bowler - Muttiah Muralitharan won the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Award in 1991 as a Schoolboy from St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota. Then another name that cannot be easily forgotten is Ranjan Madugalle - the first winner of the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Award in 1978 and followed it up by performing well again to be picked again the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1979.

So the facts are stubborn and it goes without much saying that this contest has served Sri Lanka cricket well by encouraging young cricketers to perform well during their schooldays. A winner in the contests would be able to hit the top.

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Observer-Mobitel Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2010

All-Island Coupon No.3:

1. Sachithra Perera (Ananda) 6,160

2. Chathura Peiris (St.Peter’s College) 5,830

3. Nipun Karunanayake (Nalanda) 4,119

4. S. Edirisuriya (Royal) 3,421

5. Rasika Gamage (Dharmapala College) 3,351

6. H. Wickremasuriya (SACK) 2,978

7. Waruna Fernando (SBC) 2,815

8. Deshan Dians (St. Sebs.) 1,792

9. Udara Munasinghe (Thurstan College) 1,522

10. A. Riyal (SACK) 1,427

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Observer-Mobitel Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2010

Outstation Coupon No.3:

1. S.H.I. Kumara (Devapathiraja V.) 4,023

2. N. Rajaguru (Nugawela Central) 3,971

3. M. Samarasekera (Maris Stella College) 3,827

4. K. Wickremarachchi (Gamini MMV, Bentota) 2,070

5. H. Abeyratne (Ibbagamuwa Central) 2,011

6. T. Dilranga (Bandaranayake C., Gampaha) 1,971

7. G. Sankalpa (Gurukula C., Kelaniya) 1,811

8. A. Thilakaratne (Sri Rahula C.,Katugastota) 1,011

9. A. Perera (Royal Panadura) 983

10. M. Ranasinghe (St.John’s Nugegoda) 852