Sadeera to be crowned Schoolboy Cricketer 2014
The talented and the well deserved were given the correct spotlight as Sadeera Samarawickrama of St. Josephs College Colombo was crowned the Bata-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2014. Sadeera was picked ahead of Shanuka Dulaj and Ramesh Mendis, after considering his contributions to the national stream as a member of the Sri Lanka Under-19 cricket team. He became the chosen one at the selection meeting held at the Hotel Galadari a fortnight ago.
As Sadeera was crowned the 35th Bata-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year, Dulaj of Prince of Wales’ College emerged as the runner-up with Ramesh of Dharmasoka College Ambalangoda becoming the third best.
Lasith Lakshan of St. Thomas College Matara won two categories and went on to become the Emerging Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2014. Lasith, also became the best batsman and the best allrounder in this category.
The talents of all schoolboy cricketers were highly considered and scrutinized before being aptly picked by a large selection panel of experts. The selection panel, headed by renowned cricketing personality Jayantha Seneviratne, also had big names such a Carlton Bernadus, Aubrey Kuruppu, Upul Sumathipala, Sirosha Gunathilaka. The panel also included Sri Lanka School Cricket Association and Umpires Association officials such as Nihal Fernando, Kapila Jayalath, Dilshan de Silva, Susil Chandrasiri, Prasanna Ranganath, Samantha Sovis, Prasad Amarasinghe, U.G. Saman, U.I.L.D. Wavege, Vidura Prasad, Keerthi Gunaratne, J.A.K.S. Indrajith and Nishantha Kumara. Batsman.com, a website which maintains cricket scores and updates, helped the selections by providing statistics.
Besides them, officials from the Bata Shoe Company, headed by its Managing Director Vikas Anand too took part at the selections. Gayani Rajapaksha, the Cost and Efficiency Manager, the Chairperson of the Organising Committee along with Shirani Ally played a key role in putting together all aspects together for the selection meeting which was eventually a success.
 Sadeera Samarawickrama |
 Lasith Lakshan |
 Ramesh Mendis |
 Shanuka Dulaj |
 Jayantha Seneviratne headed the selection panel |
 Bata Managing Director Vikas Anand hands over a token of appreciation to Jayantha Seneviratne |
The selection panel members with Bata officials, (seated from left), J.A.K.S. Indrajith (U-19 Tournament Sec, SLSCA), Kapila Jayalath, Sirosha Gunathilleke, Dilshan de Silva (Gen. Sec. SLSCA), Upul Sumathipala, Vikas Anand (Managing Director, Bata Shoe Company), Jayantha Seneviratne (Chairman, Selection Committee), Carlton Bernadus (SLC), Ejaz Ahamed (Director Finance, Bata), Gayani Rajapaksha (Costing, Efficiency & Local Sourcing Manager; Chairperson Schoolboy Cricketer Organising Committee), Nihal Fernando (Treasurer, SLSCA), A.A.P. Nakandala (Production Manager, Bata). (Standing from left): U.G. Saman, Vidura Prasad, Samantha Sovis, Prasanna Ranganath, Keerthi Gunaratne, Susil Chandrasiri, Nishantha Kumara, P.D.R. Andaraweera (CDC Manager, Bata), Dharshani Ranasoma (Acting Control Manager, Bata), Noel Rebert (Asst. Merchandising Manager, Bata), Naleen Weerawardena (Store Design & Renovation Manager, Bata), Srilath de Silva (EDP Manager, Bata), Ayan Bhattacharya (Retail Manager, Bata), Aubrey Kuruppu, Prasad Amarasinghe, U.I.L.D. Wavege, C. Gannile (Head of Human Resources, Bata), Sanath Balasooriya (Purchasing Manager, Bata), Tanvir Ahmed (Manager, Designing – Bata). - Pix by Indika Handuwala