Sixteen days more for the grand finale

by Dinesh Weerawansa

The final countdown has begun for the local school cricket's most looked-forward to awards night!

The mega final of the 2016 Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year will be held in exactly 16 days' time, maintaining the high traditions of the country's first school cricket awards show.

The stage is set for an exciting action-packed night that would reward all the hard work of the country's first X1 schoolboy cricketers during the recently concluded 2015/2016 inter-school season. The proud sponsor of the mother of all school cricket award shows will be Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, which has played a prominent role as a leading sports promoter. Under the guidance of Sri Lanka Telecom Chairman Kumarasinghe Sirisena, the Chief Operating Officer of SLT Mobitel, Nalin Perera has extended every support to make the mega show a resounding success once again.

The first and the most popular school cricket awards show is hosted by the country's flagship English newspaper the Sunday Observer for the 38th successive year. In fact, the Sunday Observer and its publisher the Lake House (ANCL) understood the need to reward the country's budding schoolboy cricketers some four decades ago at a time even there had not been an organised inter-school cricket tournament or an awards night to reward their efforts.

Contest going great guns

The Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1979. The mega show has gone from strength since joining hands with SLT Mobitel which provides financial support. SLT Mobitel's lucrative sponsorship package has enabled the hosts not only to reward the most outstanding schoolboy cricketers lavishly but also their coaches and masters in charge who have been playing a praise-worthy role in guiding their pupils.

The huge success of the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year show has prompted a few others to organise similar shows but the original show remains the Mother of all Shows. The Sunday Observer is happy to see others following its initiative as school cricket and its outstanding players would be the ultimate winner.

The Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year, over the past four decades, has produced some of the greatest Sri Lanka Cricketers who had stamped their name in international arena.

In fact, the first recipient of the prestigious Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year, Ranjan Madugalle is still going great guns as the Chief Match Referee of the ICC. Madugalle won the top award in its inaugural year 1979 as the captain of Royal College. Since then, Madugalle has excelled in many spheres, leading NCC and Sri Lanka with distinction before joining the ICC as an international match referee. In next to no time, he was elevated to the highest position in the international panel of ICC Match Referees.

Among some of the top award winners who had ended their careers as renowned world class cricketers are Sri Lanka's world cup-winning captain turned Cabinet Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, the most valuble player of the series in Sri Lanka's 1996 world cup triumph turned chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya, world's highest Test wicket taker Muttiah Muralitharan, former Sri Lanka captains Roshan Mahanama, Marvan Atapattu and members of Sri Lanka's world champion team Asanka Gurusinha and Kumar Dharmasena.

Among the most recent recipients of the coveted Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year title is the current stand-in captain of Sri Lanka national team Dinesh Chandimal. He has been in blistering form in the current series against Australia as well as he has made it a habit for his willow to do the talking. Going by all those illustrious track records, this year's Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year show is set to unveil yet another great Sri Lanka cricketer who is capable of following the footsteps of those great cricketers who had emerged through the Mega Show.