Cambrian Kusal Mendis will be the king of the aisle…
The selection proceedings of the 34th Bata-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the year 2013 concluded at Hotel Galadari with the selection of the All-Island Best Batsman where nearly 100 names were in the list. The selectors short-cut the names down to 11 top batsmen in the first round where the names of Pavan Devinda of Mahanama, Ramindu Kumarasinghe of Thurstan, Madawa Nimesh of Royal Panadura, Minod Ranasinghe of Maliyadeva, Nirwantha Thikshila of Mahinda Galle, Kasun Vidura of Joseph Vaz, Kusal Mendis of Prince of Wales, Hashan Dumindu of Gurukula Kelaniya, Damindu Ashan of Royal Panadura, Lisula Lakshan of Gurukula Kelaniya and Sadeera Samarawickrama of St. Joseph’s were brought forward. Out of the lot, the names of Devinda, Kumarasinghe, Nimesh, Ranasinghe and Kusal Mendis were picked for the second round.
Prince of Wales’ and Sri Lanka Under-19 skipper Kusal Mendis, joins the long list of Bata-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year winners, who went on to become global cricketing icons.
Devinda was the runner-up and Kusal Mendis was the winner.
Mendis’ contribution during the school season as well as his performances as the skipper of Sri Lanka Under-19s was given a lot of weight. Devinda was selected as the runner-up of that category.
In bowling – All-Island category, from a strong list of over 50 contenders the selectors brought the names of Yohan de Silva of Dharmasoka Ambalangoda, A.K. Tyron of Richmond, Ramesh Mendis of Dharmasoka Ambalangoda, Chalana de Silva of Mahinda, Thenuka Dhananjaya of Royal Panadura, Lakshan Jayasinghe of Trinity, Sachin Bulathsinhala of St. Anthony’s Katugastota, Binura Fernando of D.S. Senanayake, Saveen Nanayakkara of Richmond, Ruwin Sinnaiah of Maris Stella and Ransi Deepankara of Joseph Vaz were sifted.
Then the names of Yohan de Silva, Tyron, Mendis, Jayasinghe, Fernando and Sinnaiah reached the second round. De Silva, Tyron and Mendis were picked as the final three and it was Dharmasoka’s Yohan de Silva who was picked as the best bowler. His team mate Mendis was named as the runner-up.
Selectors had very little trouble in pruning down a long list of over 50 for the award of All-Island Best Fielder. Panadura Royal’s Damindu Ashan, Lisula Lakshan of Gurukula Kelaniya, Sithara Gimhana of Richmond, Lahiru Milantha of St. Peter’s, Sadeera Samarawickrama of St. Joseph’s, Nirwantha Thishila of Mahinda, Harsha Gallage of Dharmapala Pannipitiya, Milan Abeysekara of Royal, Nalin Perera of Gurukula Kelaniya and Anushka Perera of St. Sebastian’s Moratuwa advanced from the first round. In the second round it was Ashan, Lakshan, Madushan, Thikshila, Abeysekara and Perera survived.
Finally the list was brought down to five with the exception of Lakshan’s name. Eventually Mahinda’s Thikshila was named as the best fielder while Madushan from Richmond was named as the runner-up.
The list for the All-Island Best Allrounder had over 20 names as the selectors picked Ramindu Kumarasinghe of Thurstan, Shanuka Withanawasam of Prince of Wales’, Kasun Vidura of Joseph Vaz, Dushan Hemantha of St. Peter’s, Minhaj Jaleel of Thurstan, Chalana de Silva of Mahinda, Himasha Liyanage of Dharmapala Pannipitiya, A.K. Tyron of Richmond, Roshan Anuruddha of Gurukula Kelaniya and Ramesh Mendis of Dharmasoka Ambalangoda in the first round. Kumarasinghe, Hemantha, de Silva, Tyron and Mendis advanced to the second round. In the third round Kumarasinghe, de Silva and Mendis reached the final three. In the end Chalana de Silva was picked as the best allrounder with Kumarasinghe getting the second prize.
Next was time to pick the All-Island Best Captain where names of 35 first I skippers were mentioned. Hasitha Madushan of Richmond, Yohan de Silva of Dharmasoka Ambalangoda, Dushan Hemantha of St. Peter’s, Gihan Nimsara of St. Servatius Matara, Devin Pathmanathan of Royal, Anushka Perera of St. Sebastian’s Moratuwa, Kusal Mendis of Prince of Wales’ and Waseem Sinnen of Zahira were the captains who advanced in to the first round.
Madushan, de Silva, Hemantha, Nimsara and Pathmanathan advanced to the second round. Madushan, de Silva and Hemantha were eventually picked as the final three. Madushan who led Richmond Galle to 11 wins in 16 games was the eventual choice for the best captain.
In the process Richmond who remained unbeaten throughout the season was picked as the All-Island Best Team.
Finally the selectors took time to pick the 34th Bata-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2013 from the list of winners. Cambrian Kusal Mendis who have had a fine school cricket season in addition to his stint as captain of the Sri Lanka Under-19s was the most convincing candidate among selectors. The selectors took views from all members of the panel before the selection of Yohan de Silva as the runner-up.
After the main category it was time to pick the best from the rest from the Emerging Schools which covered almost the remaining cricket playing schools of the country. From a long list, the selectors brought forward the names of P.T. Kulatunga of Rahula Matara, Sahan Arachchige of Bandaranayake Gampaha, Lasith Lakshan of St. Thomas’ Matara, S.M. Imbulana of Bandaranayake Gampaha, Lahiru Udara of St. John’s Nugegoda, Vipula Nishantha of Sastrananda Dehiwela, Jacob Sachin of St. Anthony’s Wattala, P.M. Jayasinghe of Bandaranayake Gampaha, Rishanth Tudor of St. Patrick’s Jaffna and Risith Dias of Veluwana for the Emerging Best Batsman’s award.
Kulatunga, Arachchige, Lakshan, Imbulana, Udara, Nishantha and Sachin got through to the second round. Kulatunga, Arachchige and Udara were picked for the final round. Eventually Sahan Arachchige was the unanimous choice for his prolific performance while Lahiru Udara emerged as the runner-up.
The Best Bowler’s award in the Emerging Schools category had notable performers but only Roshen Fernando of St. Sebastian’s Katuneriya, Danushka Sandaruwan of St. Mary’s Kegalle and his team mate Chamika Karunaratne, Lahiru Sanjaya of St. John’s Panadura, Lakshan de Silva of St. Sebastian’s Katuneriya, Mayura Galappaththi of Rahula Matara, Mohamed Halan of President’s Kotte, Hashan Vimarshana of St. Thomas’ Matara, R. Lohathiswar of St. John’s Jaffna and Sandasen Pathirana of Asoka Vidyalaya advanced to the third round.
Fernando, Sandaruwan, Karunaratne, Sanjaya and Pathirana advanced to the second round without much hassle. In the third round Fernando, Sandaruwan and Pathirana managed to reach the final three. However Danushka Sandaruwan’s performance with the ball was sufficient to convince the selectors to pick him as the best bowler while Roshen Fernando won the second prize.
A variety of talent from all parts of the island was presented for the selection of the Emerging Schools Best Fielder award. But Kanishka Perera of President’s Kotte, Lakshan de Silva of St. Sebastian’s Katuneriya, Kasun Navaratne of Vidyartha, Rishanth Tudor of St. Patrick’s Jaffna, Nirmana de Silva of St. Thomas’ Matara, K.S. Kahandagoda of Rahula Matara, Bhanuka Manelanga of St. Mary’s Kegalle, Lahiru Sanjaya of St. John’s Panadura, Sudesh Ranasinghe of President’s Kotte, C.D. Senaratne of St. Mary’s Kegalle and L. Livington of St. Patrick’s Jaffna were picked in the first round. Perera, Lakshan, Tudor, Nirmana and Livington outvoted the rest to advance to the second round with names of Nirmana and Livington being dropped in the final round. Tudor who was one of the three talents from
Best team - Winner: Richmond College Galle First round: Richmond College Galle, Dharmasoka College Ambalangoda, St. Peter’s College COlombo, St. Servatius College Matara, Royal College Colombo, St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa, Prince of Wales’ College Moratuwa. Second round: Richmond, Dharmasoka, St. Peter’s, St. Servatius. Third round: Richmond, Dharmasoka, St. Peter’s.
Jaffna to reach the national grid won the main prize with Perera being named as the runner-up.
Unlike other categories the Emerging Schools Best Allrounder had very few names to consider upon. P.T. Kulatunga of Rahula Matara, Vipula Nishantha of Sastrananda Dehiwela, Danushka Sandaruwan of St. Mary’s Kegalle, Lahiru Sanjaya of St. John’s Panadura, Lakshan de Silva of St. Sebastian’s Katuneriya and Harsha Rajapakshe of Rahula Matara were the nominees for the second round. Nishantha’s name was omitted in the next pick as Kulatunga, Sandaruwan and Sanjaya advancing from the final round. Lahiru Sanjaya had the final say as the winner while Sandaruwan won the second prize.
The team selections were held soon afterwards with Bandaranayake College Gampaha being named as the best side from Western Province for their record of four wins and nine draw in 13 games. They outsmarted President’s Kotte, Tissa Central Kalutara, St. John’s Nugegoda, St. John’s Panadura, Dharmaloka Kelaniya, Taxila Horana and Asoka Vidyalaya in the process to win.
Vidyartha College was the easy choice ahead of St. Thomas’ Matale as the best team from Central Province for their record of four wins and 11 draws in 16 games. From the Southern Province Rahula Matara who won five and drew 14 in 19 games was named as the best team as St. Thomas’ Matara, Devananda Ambalangoda and Karandeniya Central lost in the pursuit.
St. Mary’s Kegalle and Kegalu Vidyalaya were in contention from the Sabaragamuwa Province but it was the former who had eight wins and a draw who was named as the best team.
Northern Province had four contenders but St. John’s Jaffna with a record of seven wins and three draws in 11 games was the choice ahead of St. Patrick’s’, Jaffna Central and Hindu College.
St. Sebastian’s Katuneriya after winning six and drawing eight from 16 games stood ahead of St. Anne’s Kurunegala and St. Xavier’s Marawila to be named as the best team from the North Western Province. From the North Central Province Anuradhapura Central who had a record of two wins and four draws in six games beat Ibbagamuwa Central to be named as the best team.
Overall Bandaranayake Gampaha was named as the Best Emerging Team while Anuradhapura Central won the award for the Most Promising Team.
Before the proceedings wound up for the day the selectors had one more duty to oblige to pick the Emerging Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year. With seven names in contention Danushka Sandaruwan of St. Mary’s Kegalle whose name appeared in the winner’s list of two categories was the option for the main award as Lahiru Sanjaya of St. John’s Panadura being named as the runner-up.
| All-Island | |||||||||
Schoolboy cricketer of the year
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Best Captain
 Winner - Hasitha Madushan (Richmond) First round: Hasitha Madushan, Yohan de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Gihan Nimsara, Devin Pathmanathan, Anushka Perera, Kusal Mendis, Waseem Sinnen. |
Best bowler
First round: Yohan de Silva, A.K. Tyron, Ramesh Mendis, Chalana de Silva, Thenuka Dhananjaya, Lakshan Jayasinghe, Sachin Bulathsinhala, Binura Fernando, Saveen Nanayakkara, Sanjika Ridma. |
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Best fielder
First round: Damindu Ashan, Lisula Lakshan, Sithara Gimhana, Lahiru Milantha, Hasitha Madushan, Sadeera Samarawickrema, Nirwantha Thikshila, Harsha Gallage, Milan Abeysekara, Nalin Perera, Anushka Perera. |
Best allrounder
First round: Ramindu Kumarasinghe, Shanuka Withanawasam, Kasun Vidura, Dushan Hemantha, Minhaj Jaleel, Chalana de Silva, Himasha Liyanage, A.K. Tyron, Roshan Anuruddha, Ramesh Mendis. |
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| Emerging Schools | |||||||||
Emerging Schoolboy Cricketer
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Best batsman
First round: P.T. Kulatunga, Sahan Arachchige, Lasith Lakshan, S.M. Imbulana, Lahiru Udara, Vipula Nishantha, Jacob Sachin, P.M. Jayasinghe, Rishanth Tudor, Risith Dias. |
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Best fielder
First round: Kanishka Perera, Lakshan de Silva, Kasun Nawaratne, Rishanth Tudor, Nirman de Silva, K.S. Kahandugoda, Bhanuka Manelanga, Lahiru Sanjaya, Sudesh Ranasinghe, C.D. Seneviratne, C.L. Livington. |
Best bowler
First round: Roshen Fernando, Danushka Sandaruwan, Chamika Karunaratne, Lahiru Sanjaya, Lakshan de Silva, Mayura Galappaththi, Mohamed Halan, Hashan Vimarshana, R. Lohathieswar, Sandasen Pathirana. |
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Best allrounder
First round: P.T. Kulatunga, Vipula Nishantha, Danushka Sandaruwan, Lahiru Sanjaya, Lakshan de Silva, Harsha Rajapakshe. |
Best team
Western Province |
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| Best teams
Central Province Southern Province Northern Province North Central Province |
Best Emerging team
Winner: Bandaranayake Most promising team
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