OBSERVER-MOBITEL Awards Show welcome for schoolboys

By A.C. de Silva

CRICKET: The OBSERVER-MOBITEL School Cricket Awards Ceremony on Friday had Sri Lanka cricket stars - skipper Mahela Jayawardena, former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya following the proceedings very carefully.

It was a great occasion for the young schoolboys to have the presence of the great Sri Lanka stalwarts at the show.

"It was one of the best things that happened to me in 1980 and 1982 when I won the Observer Schoolboys cricketer of the Year Award." said Arjuna Ranatunga.

He said that playing for Ananda brought him immense joy. He said that school cricketers must be motivated and the outstation cricketers must not be neglected and he added that it was good to be at this show.

Muttiah Muralitharan.... To a question as to how school cricket has helped him? Murali said that it gave him the much needed push ahead when he was at St. Anthony's College, Katugastota.

He said "I must thank the Observer a lot for giving the Kandy schools and all school cricketers the push.

He said that the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contest should not be the ends but the foundation laid for better things to be got from the cricketers.

Mahela Jayawardena: This is a good show and it will give all the encouragement to the school cricketers.

Sanath Jayasuriya: A show of this nature means a lot to the young cricketers. When I was picked as the Best Outstation Cricketer of the Year in 1988, it gave me a lot of satisfaction and spurred me on and I am what I am now because of inter-school cricket and the support it got then," said Sanath Jayasuriya.