This is a great chance for future national players
This year’s Bata-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest kicked off last Sunday with the first of a series of coupons appearing in our last week’s issue. With this progress, our readers will be able to get involved with one of the important segments of the competition, the Most Popular Cricketer of the Year 2015, beginning from February 15.
Coupons have already started to appear in our sister publications the DailyMirror and Lankadeepa in addition to the Sunday Times and the Sinhala weekly, Deshaya. The whole process will run for 17 weekends.
However the spotlight of the competition, as usual, will be the Bata-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award. Its current title holder is Sadeera Samarawickrama of St. Joseph’s College. He took it over from former Prince of Wales’ College skipper Kusal Mendis.Incidentally both were team mates of the Sri Lanka Under-19s.
Besides Sadeera, who shows great potential of becoming a national player sooner or later, young schoolboy cricketers from all part of the island showed great potential of becoming future national stars.
D.S. Senanayake College’s Binura Fernando, a rare left-arm paceman, won the best bowler’s award while Trinity College off-spinner Ravin Sayer carried away its runner-up award.
St. Joseph’s Priyamal Perera, an allrounder in the making, emerged the best fielder as Richmond’s Wanindu Hasaranga won its runner-up award. Richmond College skipper A.K. Tyron was named the best captain of the year for 2014 after his team was named the best school. Close contender and former winner Trinity College finished second best.
Lasith Lakshan of St. Thomas’ College Matara became the Emerging Schoolboy Cricketer of 2014. As these youngsters won honours for the season 2013/2014, the competition will be open for talented schoolboy cricketers, whose efforts throughout this season will be duly recognised in the month of July at a gala ceremony to be held at a well known venue in Colombo.
All schools competing in the ongoing Inter-School Division I tournament will be categorised in the All-Island Schools category. The remaining schools, which are competing under the Division II and III categories, will come under Emerging Schools as usual.
This season too, schoolboy cricketers of Sri Lanka will stand a chance to grab one of these awards when an expert panel of selectors sit together in the month of May. All you have to do is perform to your potential, making your school cricket team proud while the deserving individuals will be duly honoured for their contributions in school cricket by Bata and the Sunday Times.
As Randev Pathirana of Royal College, Lahiru Vimukthi of Sri Sumangala College Panadura and Romesh Madushan of Leighton Park International – the three lucky schoolboy cricketers will be able to win Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer awards under three categories the All-Island, Emerging and International schools this season as well. To make this event more vibrant Wijeya Newspapers publications the Sunday Times, DailyMirror, Lankadeepa and Deshaya will publish coupons up to June 14. This will enable our readers to vote in favour of their favourite schoolboy cricketer while Bata will be generous in giving out four lucky readers with gift vouchers in weekly basis. Bata, together with the Sunday Times will eagerly look forward to honour the respective winners of all categories at a gala ceremony. Await for the first official result of this year’s Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest on March 1 issue of the Sunday Times.