Chandimal stole the limelight, now the spotlight

by Dinesh Weerawansa

The 2015/16 inter-school cricket season has reached its peak with the annual big matches. Following the Ananda-Nalanda and Josephian-Peterite encounters this weekend, the oldest inter-school match - the Battle of the Blues three-day encounter between Royal and S.Thomas' is due to commence at the SSC ground on Thursday.

Simultaneously, the 38th Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year most popular contest too is reaching its peak with more votes pouring in for the leading schoolboy cricketers. The contest is sponsored by Sri Lanka's national mobile service provider - SLT Mobitel, which has taken the four-decade-old contest towards new heights.

With the ICC World T20 tournament about to get underway with Sri Lanka as the defending champions, it would be interesting to have a look at the former Observer Schoolboy Cricketers who had actively contributed towards Sri Lanka's World Cup triumph in 1996 in the ODI format. Leading the 1996 champion Sri Lanka side was Arjuna Ranatunga who had the honour of winning the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year title twice in 1980 and 1982.

Besides Ranatunga, there had been several other past Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year title winners in that champion outfit which opened a new chapter in Sri Lanka sport by conquering the Mount Everest in cricket. They are Asanka Gurusinha (1985), Roshan Mahanama (1983 and 1984), Muttiah Muralitharan (1991), Kumara Dharmasena (1989) and Marvan Atapattu (1990).

Sanath Jayasuriya, who was a member of that champion team and adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the 1996 World Cup tournament, too had been a recipient of the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year outstation title. Those credentials are ample testimony to prove that the Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer has always produced future champions of the international arena.

It was the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year awards show which first brought celebrated spinner Muttiah Muralitharan to a major cricket awards platform when he was adjudged the recipient of the glamorous award in 1991. Having captured over 100 wickets each in two successive school seasons for St. Anthony's College, Katugastota, the spin wizard was the unanimous choice for the top award exactly 25 years ago.

In one of his past interviews, Muralitharan recalled those humble beginnings which ultimately elevated him to become the world record holder for the most number of Test wickets. "A contest of this nature means a lot to young cricketers. When I was adjudged the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1991, it gave me tremendous satisfaction and spurred me on. It was due to inter-school cricket and the encouragement it gave me that I have been able to go places," he was quoted as saying.

In addition to those champions of yesteryear, former T20 captain Dinesh Chandimal who is in cracking form in Sri Lanka's lead up to the ICC T20 World Cup, too had been a proud recipient of the coveted Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award in 2009.

It would be interesting to see how the 2009 Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy cricketer fares in the World T20 tournament which begins in a few days time. The decision to play Chandimal as an opening batsman has turned out to be a wise decision. He has scored two half centuries in the four innings he has played as an opening batsman in T20 Internationals. In contrast, he scored just one half century in 28 previous innings he had played in while batting in other positions in T20 Internationals.

Chandimal's quick-fire 58 off 49 balls with one six and seven fours in Sri Lanka's last Asia Cup T20 International against Pakistan on Friday was a treat to watch. Chandimal also made a run-a-ball 37 in Sri Lanka's previous T20 match against the hosts Bangladesh.

We could hear greater feats from this past Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer award winner during the ICC T20 World Cup which starts on Tuesday.