It was a night to remember

It was a night to remember with our tomorrow's cricketing heroes being rewarded for their outstanding achievements during the recently concluded inter-school cricket season.

The 31st Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year awards ceremony was held at the BMICH in Colombo on a grand scale on Tuesday.

What a night it was! Sri Lanka's cricketing heroes of yesteryear, along with the officials of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) and Sri Lanka Cricket Umpires and Scorers? Association (SLCUSA), were in their numbers to inspire the future stars of Sri Lanka cricket.

The fitting Chief Guest for the big occasion was former Sri Lanka Test opener and former ICC Match Referee Sidath Wettimuny. He scored the first ever Test century for Sri Lanka exactly 27 years ago, making a magnificent 157 in the second Test against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1982.

But the most cherished moment of his distinguished career was that sparkling knock of 190 against England at Lord's in 1984. It was nice to see some of Sri Lanka's past cricketing legends such as Wettimuny, Arjuna Ranatunga, Ashantha de Mel and D.S. de Silva on one stage to motivate the budding youngsters in the cricketing arena.

Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge has always supported this Mega Show. He was in Polonnaruwa on that day but a tired Minister came straight from Polonnaruwa to BMICH and was there until the very end of the grand finale. So did the Ministry Secretary S. Liyanagama.

Adding spice to the Mega Show were Bhathiya & Santhush, Lahiru of Rambare fame, Dancing Star Dushyanth Weeraman, along with Channa Wijewardena and his dancing troupe.

The Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contest, which has produced Sri Lanka's cricketing legends for the past 30 years, has gained national status. The Mega Awards Show which recognises talents of schoolboy cricketers was organised by Sri Lanka's flagship English newspaper with the largest circulation the Sunday Observer, in association with the SLC, SLSCA and SLCUSA).

Providing the financial backing to the Mega Show as the proud sponsor has been the Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, Sri Lanka's national mobile service provider, which is incidentally the sponsor of Sri Lanka's national cricket team.

It is the original show that goes on and on, maintaining its rich traditions for the last three decades. Over the years, the contest has produced some of the greatest Sri Lanka cricketers - Ranjan Madugalle, Ranatunga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Roshan Mahanama, Asanka Gurusinha, Marvan Atapattu, Kumara Dharmasena, Thilan Samaraweera and Sanath Jayasuriya, to name a few.

Chief ICC Match Referee and former Royal, NCC and Sri Lanka captain Madugalle was the first recipient of the prestigious award way back in 1979 and 30 years later he graced our show as the chief guest last year. Chairman of Selectors and former Sri Lanka fast bowler De Mel, who was amongst the distinguished gathering, was adjudged the Best Bowler at the inaugural Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest. Sri Lanka's World Cup winning captain and former Ananda and SSC skipper Ranatunga, who was there with us that day, has twice won this coveted award in 1980 and in 1982.

It is the dream of any schoolboy cricketer to win the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer 'crown'.

The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited - Sri Lanka's oldest and the largest newspaper group which publishers the Sunday Observer, has been in the forefront of sports promotion, recognising the talents of schoolboy cricketers and motivating them to step into the big league.

The youngster who stole the show was none other than Dinesh Chandimal of Ananda College, Colombo 10 the Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2009 for this outstanding contribution during the 2008/ 2009 inter-school season.

His role model is former Sri Lanka star Romesh Kaluwitharana for his aggressive style and wicket 'keeping skills. Consistent performances with the gloves and bat, including an attacking century against India Under-19s in August 2007 and an unbeaten 112 in the tri-nation series against England U-19s the following year earned Chandimal a call-up to the squad for the U-19 World Cup in Malaysia in 2008.

The lad from Ambalangoda made his First Class debut last month, with a superb top score of 64 out of a Sri Lanka Development X1 first innings total of 159 against New Zealand. The youngster, who turns 20 on November 18, engraved his name in the record books with the prestigious award.

Angelo Perera, the Peterite captain, narrowly missed the title after a close evaluation at the selection process, handled by the SLCUSA and SLSCA officials. Apart from being the runner-up, he also won the award for the Best Batsman in the All-Island category.

But when it came to the popularity, Perera was unbeatable. He was voted the Observer-Mobitel Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Al-Island. He won the popular contest with a outstanding total of 37,456 votes having received a staggering 23,754 votes on the final round of voting alone.

The World Cup Youth player Perera, now playing for Colts Cricket Club in the Premier Under-23 Cricket Tournament is making a strong bid to get into the National Development Pool, along with Chandimal.

Talking about the success of the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year, I cannot forget the lavish contributions made by the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Telecom and SLT Mobitel, Ms. Leisha de Silva Chandrasena, Chief Executive Officer of the SLT Mobitel Suren J. Amarasekera and the Chairman of the ANCL and veteran media personality Bandula Padmakumara.

Dynamic Amarasekera, another proud product of Royal College, has always been a tower of strength and a keen supporter of the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year and promotion of the game.