Computers for schools....

Additional prizes - two Mobitel mobile phones each week as readers prizes

by Leslie FERNANDO

Thilan Samaraweera - 10th Anandian to represent Sri Lanka in Test cricket. Twice winner of the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award in 1994 and 1995.	Marvan Atapattu - a former Sri Lanka skipper, won the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Award in 1990, Captain of Ananda in 1989.

OBSERVER-MOBITEL AWARDS: Inspired by the tremendous early response from our readers, in voting for their favourite schoolboy cricketers at the 31st Observer-SLT Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contest, the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL) decided to offer additional prizes to the readers who pick future cricketing stars.

Three lucky winners picked from the readers who sent in their voting coupons would get attractive cash rewards worth Rs. 5,000 every week. Three lucky winners to be picked every week would get Rs. 2,500, Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 1,000 from the organisers.

A total sum of Rs. 100,000 will be on offer as readers prizes in the contest. This will be in addition to winning two mobile phones. That’s not all - Mobitel Smart pre-paid connections and recharge cards will also be given to three lucky voters every week. This is a special gift from the sponsors of the show Sri Lanka Telecom-Mobitel.

There will be more gifts from SLT-Mobitel - the pioneer hand-phone people. The school of the nominees will stand a chance to win a desktop computer with M3 high speed internet connection at the monthly draw.

This would be a great inspiration to cricket fans who vote for their favourite schoolboy cricket heroes. While backing their own schoolboy cricketers at the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer titles, they will stand a good chance of winning valuable cash awards and gifts.

Explaining the move to reward the readers who vote for their favourite schoolboy cricketers, Chairman of ANCL and veteran, journalist and TV personality, Bandula Padmakumara said the readers too have played a vital role in promoting school cricket over the past three decades.

This has been the show that produces cricketing legends. Hence a greater participation is vital in picking the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketers and we have maintained that over the past 30 years! An official of Mobitel said, that they are happy to be associated with ANCL and Sunday Observer in recognising schoolboy talent.

“There is hidden talent. Evaluating their performance through an eminent panel of judges comprising representatives from the Umpires Associations and Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association would give them a fair deal to come into the limelight.”

Readers could also vote for their favourite schoolboy cricketers from international schools too. Such voting should be made under the All-Island category.

Sri Lanka’s Test batting star Thilan Samaraweera, who became the tenth Anandian to represent Sri Lanka in Test Cricket was twice winner of the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Award. It was in 1994 and 1995 that Thilan won.

On both occasions, he also won the Best Batsman and Best Allrounders awards. Thilan said that he owes his climb to the top in cricket due to this popular contest which gave him all the encouragement. He endorsed this long standing contest as the best for schoolboy cricketers.

Thilan Thusara Samaraweera was of the view that Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contest proved to be one of the best in the country. “I’m indeed happy that this contest has continued for over 30 years and my wish is that it goes on for at least another 30 years.”

Thilan also said that cricketers from lesser known schools like Ginigathena MV, Poramadulla MV, Kalutara MV, Revatha MV, Royal Horana, Sri Rahula, Alawwa to name a few are now playing competitive cricket due to the interest shown in the contest. Born on September 22nd in 1976, Thilan took a liking for the game of cricket from his young days and his devotion to the game brought him rich rewards.

It was a success story all the way from his early days at Ananda and he never looked back and his perseverance brought him rich rewards. His success at school level has taken him to the Sri Lanka team and he is doing well there too.

There is another cricketer from Ananda who has been honoured by the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contest that is former Sri Lanka Captain Marvan Atapattu. He was picked Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1990 and he was also picked as the Best Batsman that year. Marvan complimented the ANCL and Observer for keeping the show going for all these years.

Schoolboy cricketers should be encouraged on larger scale. This contest is sure to identify the talent and the high performances. Atapattu was confident that the up-and-coming schoolboy cricketers follow the same example set by those who won top awards at the contest. Marvan was the captain of the 1989 Ananda side.

His elegant stroke-play was a treat to watch. He was a permanent figure in the Sri Lanka team. He captained Sri Lanka from 2003 for many years. Atapattu added that Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contest has brought out rich talent and about 90 per cent of Sri Lanka cricket team has won awards in this contest.

Marvan further said that the game of cricket is not confined to the popular schools, the game has spread throughout Sri Lanka and cricketers from the far-fetched schools are taking a great interest with a show like the Observer-SLT-Mobitel encouraging them along.