Fillip for school cricket with Mobitel

Sri Lanka Cricket is making a great effort to resurrect our school cricket, which was once considered the best in the world. SLC Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga has given this great responsibility to former Sri Lanka Test leg spinner D.S. de Silva.

Our school cricket structure is still the most organised in the world with so many school teams competing in tournaments under four age groups, that two under three divisions each. This comprehensive structure has been the key to the national team's success in the late '90s.

But the same cannot be said when we compare the standard of present day school cricket with that of yesteryear. That is mainly because of the poor attention the authorities have paid to school cricket during the past five years or more.

Ranatunga has understood this well and what a great contribution could a rich standard of school cricket do for the development of the national pool. As a schoolboy, club cricketer, national cricketer, a past Test captain and administrator, Ranatunga knows this fact more than anybody else.

That was why Ranatunga focused his attention immediately on school cricket soon after his appointment as the new head of Sri Lanka Cricket interim administration. A better school cricket standard and a high level of competition would groom a talented set of schoolboy cricketers at the end of each season.

It would not only help cricket playing clubs to have a regular inflow of budding cricketers who could fill vacancies in their club teams, but would also help the national pool in the long run. If this could produce a talented set of club cricketers, then the national selectors would have more options in naming Sri Lanka teams in the future. That would effectively fill possible future vacancies in the national team with equal quality stuff.

In order to strengthen Sri Lanka's World Cup winning chances, Ranatunga's vision is to focus on school cricket. Our sister newspaper the Sunday Observer has joined hands with the Sri Lanka Cricket to take the popular Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year to greater heights.

Sri Lanka Cricket has joined with the organisers - The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL) in giving national status to the much looked forward to event in the school cricket calendar. Originating way back in 1979, the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest has gone from strength to strength during the past three decades.

ANCL Chairman Bandula Padmakumara has always shown a keen interest in elevating the standard of the event. It was during last year's Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest at the BMICH that the Chairman told me to take the contest forward with a vision.

When I attended last year's awards ceremony as the Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Observer, the Chairman pointed out the importance of making it a national event on a grand scale.

It's due to his untiring efforts that we were able to launch this year's show on a grand national level. When it came to the point of finding a sponsor to meet the huge finances involved in organising a grand event of this nature, Sri Lanka Telecom did not think twice in comming forward.

As a true corporate citizen, the SLT Mobitel came with a lavish sponsorship package to foster this great show. Hence, the 30th Observer-Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest will be held as a national event to reward our budding schoolboy cricketers.

This has been the show that has generated legends. The Observer Schoolboy Cricketer Year show has been the stepping stone for some of the well known Lankan cricketing heroes. It has not only produced Test cricketers but Test captains and world cricket legends such as Arjuna Ranatunga and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Former Sri Lanka Test captain and current ICC Chief Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle had the rare honour of winning the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year title at its inaugural year in 1979. Ranatunga is no stranger to the contest, having won the 'crown' twice - in 1980 and 1982.

Then there was a little known off spinner from St. Anthony's College, Katugastota who won the title in 1991. When this budding cricketer received the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year trophy from the chief guest, then Minister Sirisena Cooray, none would have thought this lanky youngster would become the greatest ever bowler in the history of Test cricket.

But now, the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest has produced another world cricketing hero. He is none other than Muttiah Muralitharan, that little boy who won the title in 1991.

Apart from Madugalle, Ranatunga and Muralitharan, the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest has produced many household names in Sri Lanka cricket history - Asanka Gurusinha, Marvan Atapattu, Roshan Mahanama and Thilan Samaraweera, to name a few.

One cannot forget the great contributions made by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA), Sri Lanka Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association (SLCUSA) and former sponsors - Warner-Hudnet and Bata Shoe Company over the past 29 years in supporting the Sunday Observer and the ANCL in taking this popular event forward.

The SMART connection with Mobitel would enable the Sunday Observer to make an even greater contribution in rewarding our budding schoolboy cricketers and promoting our school cricket, which is the need of the hour to improve the standard of Sri Lanka cricket.