Every player should target an award - Sean Mackay

by Ranjan Anandappa

Former Sri Lanka schools cricketer and level one coach, Sean Mackay who was a recipient of many Sunday Observer School Cricket Awards during his playing days at Raddoluwa MV said that every schoolboy cricketer should target to win an award at this prestigious contest that will help them immensely to build their career and one’s confidence.

The problem these days with some talented cricketers is not having a target for the future. Mackay, represented Raddoluwa MV at all age groups in the SLSCA school tournaments from 1987. He was a member of the Sri Lanka Under 19 team at the Youth World Cup held at Malaysia in 1994.

In that team there were players of the calibre of present day stars, Kumar Sangakkara, Rangana Herath, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Pradeep Hewage, Nimesh Perera and the skipper of the side Indika Konara.

He won the best fielder runner-up award in 1995 and in 1996 he carried away the award for the best batsman outstation and the following year was best batsma n outstation runner-up.

Mackay further said that the Sunday Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year show is undoubtedly a glittering one that every cricketer looks forward to stamp their class.

As all of us know the contest has recognised top class players who had gone to represent the country at the highest level. Sean Mackay, the present coach of Sri Pannananda MV (formerly Raddoluwa MV) lamented that the present day school cricket standards have dropped drastically and remedies should be found to resurrect it quickly. His former school Raddoluwa MV has produced some fine cricketers like the present day coach Sean Mackay, Kevin La Faber and Indika Batuwithaarachi who later went on to represent the UAE . All these players were under the guidance the late Roylle Barthellot a cricket umpire who was the coach and the live wire and the driving force for cricket at the school.

With the demise of Barthellot, cricket at the Raddolouwa school lost its way, but Mackay the present coach is dedicated to improve the game and bring it back to its past glory. Most of the awards won by the Raddoluwa School was during the era of Barthellot as coach. Mackay hopes that he could make his school a formidable cricket playing school once again.

This contest not only brings out the players from the metropolis, but from the outstations as well. Players like Sanath Jayasuriya, Tharanga Paranavithana, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, and the latest find Tharindu Kaushal to name a few have emerged from the rural areas.

No where in the world is a contest of this nature, recognising schoolboy cricketers have been held. So full credit should go to the Sunday Observer the pioneers of the show, he said.