Special awards for Chamara Kapugedera and Angelo Matthew

by A. C. de Silva

Great achievements cannot easily be forgotten. Bata Shoe Company of Ceylon Limited - one of the leading sponsors of sports in this country together with Sunday Observer have made it possible to have the Observer-Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year awards ceremony for 28 years.

Though the competition had encountered some problems owing to some unsettled moments in the country and the competition had to be stopped for three years, it has now got back to having the competitions that caters to cricketers throughout the length and breadth of the country. This year, the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year competitions could not be held, but from next year, all the competitions that were held in the past with the possibility of also getting the Jaffna schoolboys too back into the fray will be explored.

Bata's Managing Director Raphael Mollo said that he has been in Sri Lanka for only five months and it was a pleasure for him to be present at the selections this time and also witness last year's awards to the Most Popular Cricketers. He assured all cricket fans for big things to follow in the coming years and thanked the umpires for the trouble that they had undertaken to select the winners for various contests in the competition.

Two outstanding cricketers - Chamara Kapugedera of Dharmaraja College, Kandy and Angelo Matthew of St. Peter's will receive special awards for their contribution towards the game.

Kapugedera was selected to represent Sri Lanka Test team in England and Angelo Matthew who had to miss a major portion of the inter-school cricket season this year owing to call of duty to captain the Sri Lanka under 19 team at the Youth World Cup in England.