34th Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year :

Stage set to honour school cricket talents tomorrow

Sajeewa Salgado of Thurstan College (All-Island) and Kavindu Ashan Perera of Royal College, Panadura (Outstation) will be crowned Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketers of the Year at the 34th Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year mega awards ceremony to be held at the Galadari Hotel Grand Ballroom tomorrow.

The Runner-up awards of the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketers of the Year contest will go to Ashan Wanigaratnam of Thurstan College (All-Island) and Angelo Jayasinghe of Maris Stella College, Negombo (Outstation).

There will be many entertainment acts as well. Bhathiya and Santhush will add colour to this year’s mega show as well. Besides BnS, there will be several other popular artistes to entertain the youth, including Dushanth Weeraman.

A limited number of special passes is available exclusively for Daily News readers on a first come first served basis. Please call Sharon or Sujani on 011-2429231 or 011-2429238 between 9 am and 5 pm today and tomorrow for prior reservations.

The much- looked forward to Schoolboy Cricketers of the Year will be announced at the end of the grand finale. Imraz Raafi (Zahira College), Sajeeva Salgado (Thurstan College), Amila Aponso (St.Sebastian’s College), Pasindu Madushan (Ananda Collegr) and Niroshan Dickwella (Trinity College) have been short listed for the prestigious Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2012.

The short listed names for the Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2012 (Outstation) are Uditha Balasuriya (Ibbagamuwa Central), Ruwan Bandara (Vidyartha, Kandy), Hashan Hewanayake (S. de S. Jayasinghe, Dehiwela), Tharindu Kaushal (Devapathiraja), Ashan Ranasinghe (St. Thomas’, Matara), Sanka Ramesh Moratu MV), Madusanka Lakshan (S. de S. Jayasinghe, Dehiwela) and Tharindu Somaratne (St. Mary’s, Kegalle).

The eminent selection panel which finalized the winners evaluating the season’s performances consisted of L.M.D. Dharmasena - the President of the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association - the Principal of Ananda College. The other officials were all active umpires from the various associations in Sri Lanka. The others who officiated as judges in the contest were Dilshan de Silva - Secretary, Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association, who is also an Executive Member of Sri Lanka Cricket, Sarathchandra de Silva - Vice-President of SLSCA, Nihal Fernando - Treasurer of SLSCA, Wasantha Kariyawasam - Assistant Secretary, SLSCA, G.W. Jagath Senaratne - Tournament Committee Chairman, Vice-President of SLSCA, J.A.K.S. Indrajith - Under-19 Tournament Secretary, SLSCA, M.J.M.D. Vaas - Under 13 Tournament Secretary, SLSCA, Y. Nishantha Kumara - Assistant Treasurer, SLSCA, S.M. Wickremasinghe - Under-15 Tournament Secretary, SLSCA, Saman Hettiarachchi - Selection Committee Chairman, SLSCA, Keerthi Gunaratne - Selection Committee Member, SLSCA and Sisira Weerasinghe - Selection Committee Member, SLSCA.

Former Sri Lanka captain and current batting coach of the national team, Marvan Atapattu will be the chief guest. Incidentally, Atapattu will be returning to the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer stage after 22 years, since winning the coveted award way back in 1990. After an illustrious school cricket career at Ananda College where he captained the school First XI for a successful season and selected as the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 1990, Atapattu had a miserable Test outing scoring ‘ducks’ in five of his six Test matches. However, he fought his way back into the side like playing a fighting Innings when a side is in dire straits, to captain the national side in 2003 with distinction.

Atapattu’s batting style and technique has come under scrutiny by many top class players who are television commentators . He has been named as a model for young aspiring school cricketers to emulate. Atapattu captained Ananda in 1989 and became the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year and the Best Batsman (All Island) in 1990. In the same year in November 23 he made his Test and ODI debut against India.

The batting star Atapattu, commended the contest which has lasted for over three decades and recognising a number of cricketers for their efforts, wished that the show will go on for many years to come. He said that it not only benefits the Colombo players, but is an asset to the players in the outstations as well. There is an abundance of talent available outside Colombo increasing daily. The outstation competition is becoming more competitive which augurs well for the future.

He scored his maiden Test hundred against India after seven years of his debut. Sri Lanka Cricket has quite rightly bestowed him with the job of the batting coach of the national side for his immaculate batting skills.

The 42-year-old Atapattu, featured in 90 Tests and has 5,502 Test runs against his name. Atapattu with Sanath Jayasuriya as his opening partner, formed a lethal right and left hand combination. Marvan has scored a century against all Test playing nations in his 16 Test hundreds - and has gone further by scoring six double hundreds three against Zimbabwe (home and away), one each against Pakistan, England and Bangladesh.

His top Test score was 249 against Zimbabwe in 2004 at the Galle Stadium where he was engaged in a record second wicket stand of 438 with Kumar Sangakkara.

He made his ODI debut in the same year 1990 the year he played his first Test also against India. In his 268 ODI match career Atapattu scored 8529 runs with 17 centuries. His highest ODI score is 132 n.o. and he was also a member of the 1996 World Cup winning team.