Pete, Sachin Silva takes the initiative
The first week’s result of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018 contest, which kicked off last week, comes out this weekend with some of the known names.
Honours of the opening week of this much awaited, coveted competition goes to Sachin Silva of St. Peter’s College, who also was an avid contender last season. Having enjoyed a successful season with a reasonable record in batting and bowling for the Peterites, Sachin comes in with new hopes this season obtaining 37 votes at the kickoff.
Next to him is Dharmaraja College cricketer Dulaj Bandara, who is also a potential player. At third and fourth are two good cricketers from S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia — Kalana Perera and Dellon Peiris. They are followed by Nimnaka Jayathilake of St. Anthony’s College Katugastota.
The Emerging Schools category, where players of Division II and III cricket playing schools get to come among the top, is initiated by Pulitha Yasas Sri Sarathchandra of Sri Sumangala College Panadura. He was also in the front run last season and ended up runner-up eventually after a great battle. The newly introduced Girls’ Schools category is yet to kick off. The nature of the race to the top could definitely hit a peak as weeks progress with 25 more weekends to go before it comes to an interesting end.
Coupons which were published from October 1 in the Sunday Times and will follow throughout the week in the two English dailies, the Daily Mirror and DailyFT, and the two Sinhala dailies, Daily Lankadeepa and Ada and Sinhala Weekend, Deshaya. Coupons will run for 26 weeks with the deadline set for April 30, 2018. Readers could vote for their favourite schoolboy or schoolgirl cricketer and take them to the winning post during this period.
In addition Dialog Axiata’s online voting system through their official Online Portal to vote for the Most Popular Cricketer (www.dialog.lk/cricket), will come alive from October 1. There will be a different method to follow in the digital process of voting for the Most Popular Schoolboy or Schoolgirl Cricketer.
Players who have represented their respective school in First XI cricket and with a tally of 400 or above runs or 25 wickets or above in the last season will be automatically eligible for the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018 competition. Schools have been categorised under three categories — the All-Island, Emerging and Girls schools, according to the segmentation process of Sri Lanka School Cricket Association.
All schools competing in the ongoing Inter-School Division I tournament will be categorised under the All-Island Schools while the remaining schools, competing under Division II and III categories, will come under Emerging Schools. The 32 girls schools will come under the Girls category. This method will be effect to the selections as well as for choosing the most popular schoolboy cricketer.
The digital voting mechanism will have its usual procedure as last season where all players must register online. Players who wish to enter the fray will have to confirm their participation by registering online with — www.dialog.lk/cricket/register — from October 1 to November 30. Even schoolboy cricketers whose names are entered into the competition by readers must register before that deadline. To validate their registration players should also be registered under the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) with a valid registration number. Players without a valid registration from SLSCA will not be included in any category of the Most Popular competition. The decision of the Deputy Editor – Sports of the Sunday Times will be final.
Players who register online during the month of October will be officially scrutinised of their eligibility and entered to the online voting mechanism from November 1, while the customary voting through coupons will be still on. From November 1, the Online Portal will be open for voting while online registration will be still accepted up to November 30. During the month of November, the names of registered players will be released weekly, every Wednesday while the cutoff date for weekly scrutinising will be the previous Friday of each week. Online voting will be open from November 1 to April 30, 2018.
Both coupon votes and online votes will be counted on a weekly basis and the official results published every week beginning next Sunday in the five newspapers and its websites, as well as that of Dialog Axiata’s Online Portal.
The deadline for COUPONS will be every Thursday Noon while the weekly cutoff for ONLINE VOTES will be every Wednesday Noon. Online Votes received after the weekly cutoff time will be counted for the next week, while for Coupons, ONLY those numbered for the particular week will be taken into count.
All-Island Schools
Name School
Sachin Silva St. Peter’s College 37
Dulaj Bandara Dharmaraja College 24
Kalana Perera S. Thomas’ College 17
Dellon Peiris S. Thomas’ College 9
Nimnaka Jayathilake St. Anthony’s College 8
Emerging Schools
Name School
Pulitha Yasas Sri Sumangala Panadura 15
Sonara Karunathunga Ananda Sasthralaya 1
Readers prizes go to: 1. A. Witharana, 50/3/1, Heenatikumbura, Talangama North, Battaramulla, 2. Barton Mather, 13A-6/2, Fussel’s Lane, Wellawatte, 3. W.M.J. Udaya Kymara, 84/2, Rathmalkaduwa Road, Sinharapitiya, Gampola, 4. Chanaka Ruvinda Fernando, 62, Pushparama Road, Pothupitiya, Wadduwa