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Besides these two top awards he also won the prizes for the Best Bowler, Best Allrounder and Best Captain and took major honours at the 2007 contest. Gunatileka a more than useful right hand batsman, showed plenty of talent while bowling too, which made him a blossoming allrounder. His left-arm leg-spin was his main weapon which mesmerised the batsmen and had brought him a rich harvest of wickets and as a batsman, he could wield the willow at any batting position. It was unfortunate that he could not continue with the game soon after leaving school and playing in the major domestic tournaments due to injury. He continued his studies to become a Management Trainee and succeeded. Later he joined the Chilaw Marians and played in the Under 23 and Premier Tournaments and fared well. He said that he loved the game of cricket very much which has taught him many lessons, and his dedication has brought him rich results. He thanked the ANCL and the Sunday Observer and the sponsors Mobitel for organising an excellent job to recognise the young schoolboy talent which are the future players for the country. It is no exaggeration to say that there are a good number of players who have won awards and gone to represent the country at the highest level. The additional segment of the competition for schools playing in division 3, mostly from outstations will no doubt give more opportunities to display their talents. In the recent past we have seen more players emerging from the rural areas and coming into the limelight. All credit should be given to the Sunday Observer and Mobitel for finding new avenues in promoting cricket in the country. Malith Gunatileka became the sixth Anandian to win the prestigious award in 2007, with world conquering captain Arjuna Ranatunga twice (1980 and 1982), Sanjeeva Ranatunga (1988), former Sri Lanka captain and the present batting coach Marvan Atapattu (1990), Thilan Samaraweera twice (1994 and 1995), Muthumudalige Pushpakumara (1999). Eight years later Gunatileka won the award in 2007 and the last Ananda players to be crowned was the present vice captain and the T20 captain Dinesh Chandimal in 2009. In the 2007 school cricket season Gunatileka had an impressive season taking 90 wickets. The other Anandians who had taken over 90 wickets in a season were Anurudha Polonowita, Palitha Premasiri, Ajith de Silva and Sonny Yatawara. Gunatileka’s great season was underlined when he was instrumental in beating Royal after 47 years. The main architect in this memorable win was Gunatileka who had the startling match figures of 13 for 58 and he led the team judiciously. |
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