Schoolboy Cricketer show has come to stay

By Ranjan ANANDAPPA

CRICKET: The link between the Sunday Observer and the Sri Lanka School Cricket Association along with the sponsors have something unique when it comes to the development of the game in the country. This combination has helped the young immensely, not only where cricket is concerned, but in their day to day life.

The Sunday Observer - Sri Lanka Telecom show has come to stay.

These views were aired by H.S. Pieris, a former Master-in-Charge of Cricket at Sri Sumangala College Panadura who was an official in various capacities at the SLSCA during his 23 years of school administration. A show of this nature, is being held in the world which gives due recognition at schoolboy level for cricketers. This has no doubt helped us to maintain the high standard of school cricket. We know our school cricket standard is rated as one the best in the world.

“A large sum of money has been spent to conduct this show annually and I wish that this show will go on and on for many years to come”said Pieris. He has been silently serving Sri Lanka School Cricket and he is one of the most respected among the officials. Even after retiring, he plays a responsible role in the administration of school cricket and is presently attached to the SLSCA Secretariat.

He was rewarded for his good work in 1998 when he accompanied the Sri Lanka Under 19 cricket team as the schools representative for the Under 19 World Cup in South Africa.

In that tournament, the Sri Lanka Under-19 team was captained by Pradeep Hewage of St.Benedict’s College and included players like Chamara Silva, Malinga Bandara, Prasanna Jayawardene, Dilhara Fernando and Thilina Kandamby, to name a few.

A good number of recipients of awards at this show has gone to represent the country at the highest level and it is certain that there will be more emerging players to come in the future.