Dialog-ST 2019: Sukhitha Manoj continues to dominate

Sukhitha Manoj of St. Sebastian's College Moratuwa continues to dominate the All-Island Schools category for the fifth consecutive week of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2019 contest. 

Manoj added 221 votes in the ended week to reach 1337 and his lead against second placed Lakshitha Rasanjana of Nalanda College expands to an impressive 900. 

Rasanjana meanwhile added 111 votes in the ended week and took his tally to 436. 

Following behind is Abhishek Kumara of Trinity College, who reaches 173 while Sri Lanka Under-19 cap, Navod Paranavithana of Mahinda College, who debuted at No.4 last week, sends a warning to others by reaching 151 in just two weeks. 

At fifth is Ravindu Fernando of Maris Stella College, who is one vote behind Navod. 

The list of contenders has expanded to 19 from this week. 

Vishal Rukshan of St. Peter's College, who pushed down Thanusha Sandaruwan of St. John's College Nugegoda to second last week, continues to lead the Emerging Schools category. 

From 543, Vishal's total moves up to 978 while expanding his lead against Sandaruwan by 227 from last week's deficit of 47. 

Sandaruwan too indicates that he is not willing to give in easily by adding 255 and reaching 751. 

Lithija Kalhara of Ananda Maithree NS Balangoda and Sachin Jayasinghe of Royal College Panadura follow while Chamod Sandaru of Piliyandala Central makes his debut. 

Sathya Sadeepani of Devapathiraja College Rathgama makes her debut with 33 votes last week, continues to lead the Girls' Schools category, which was introduced to the ever popular competition in the country last season. 

She pushed down Sithmi Nirasha of Anula Vidyalaya Nugegoda to second spot last week, but the difference between the two is just nine votes apart. 

The nature of the race to the top could definitely hit a peak as weeks progress with 21 more weekends to go before it comes to an interesting end. 

Coupons will be published in the Sunday Times, the two English dailies, the Daily Mirror and DailyFT, and the two Sinhala dailies, Daily Lankadeepa and Ada and Sinhala Weekend, Deshaya. From this year coupons will also come will out in the TamilMirror. 

Readers could vote for their favourite schoolboy or schoolgirl cricketer and take them to the winning post during this period before the deadline of 26 weeks come to an end. 

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 next week. 

Players of all categories, including those already in the fray through coupons, should register themselves following the link -- www.dialog.lk/cricket/register. 

The method to follow in the digital registration process has been made simple for schoolboys and schoolgirls. 

Already a good number of players have registered and their names will be published in weeks to come after necessary verification. 

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. 

Online Registration 

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. 

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 Sports Editor of the Sunday Times will be final. 

Players who register online during the month of October will be officially scrutinized of their eligibility and entered to the online voting mechanism, while the customary voting through coupons will be still on. 

From late November, the Online Portal will be open for voting while online registration will be still accepted. 

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 to March 31, 2019. 

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 

Sukhitha Manoj (St. Sebastian's College Moratuwa) 1337 

Lakshitha Rasanjana (Nalanda College) 436 

Abhishek Ananda (Trinity College) 173 

Navod Paranavithana (Mahinda College) 151 

Ravindu Fernando (Maris Stella College) 85 

Nishan Madushka (Moratu Vidyalaya) 67 

Pasindu Ushetti (Maris Stella College) 60 

Shehan Fernando (St. Benedict's College) 55 

Nuwanidu Fernando (St. Sebastian's College Moratuwa) 51 

K.A.L.C. Warnakulasuriya (St. Anne's College Kurunegala) 38 

Randheer Ranasinghe (St. Anne's College Kurunegala) 33 

Sandun Mendis (Richmond College) 25 

Yasitha Samararathne (Dharmaraja College) 20 

Dinitha Prabhanaka (Devapathiraja College Rathgama) 17 

Kanishka Ranthilakage (Ananda College) 13 

Nihisal Vidanapathirana (St. Thomas' College Matara) 7 

Shevon Daniel (St. Joseph's College) 4 

Kalana Perera (S. Thomas' College) 3 

Pasindu Bandara (Trinity College) 2 

Emerging Schools 

Vishal Ruskhan (St. Peter's College Gampaha) 978 

Thanusha Sandaruwan (St. John's College Nugegoda) 751 

Lithija Kalhara (Ananda Maithree, Balangoda) 387 

Sachin Jayasinghe (Royal College Panadura) 66 

Chamod Sandaru (Piliyandala Central) 3 

Girls' Schools 

Sathya Sandeepani (Devapathiraja College Ratgama) 43 

Sithmi Nirasha (Anula Vidyalaya Nugegoda) 34 

Readers prizes go to: 1. Imalsha Dilani, 487, Ranmuthugala, Kadawatha, 2. D.D.C. Paranavithana, 240, Arunodayagama, Akmeemana, 3. Rayan Mathew, 248/D, Udakanampella, Pugoda, 4. Krishan Anandakumara, 152, Mapanawathura Road, Kandy.