The stage is set for the grand finale of the 44th Observer SLT Mobitel School Cricketers of the Year Mega Show which has now been fixed for mid next month.
As the first ever school cricket awards ceremony which began even before the school cricket governing body started their own event, the Observer SLT Mobitel School Cricketers of the Year has now been held for four-and-a-half decades.
The Mega Show has been held even during the two-year Covid-19 devastation, where even the official school cricket body’s show was not possible. When all sponsors deserted their events during the Covid-19 devastation, the SLT Mobitel stood strong and backed the Sunday Observer with their uninterrupted financial backing.
Thus, the Sunday Observer and the ANCL were able to hold the Observer SLT Mobitel School Cricketers of the Year show continuously for 44 years since 1978/79. The SLT Mobitel will be sponsoring the Observer SLT Mobitel School Cricketers of the Year show for the 15th consecutive year.
The winners of the 44th Observer SLT Mobitel School Cricketers of the Year have now been shortlisted after the grand selection committee meeting held at Galadari Hotel yesterday.
The 16-member selection committee, comprising top officials of the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA), Sri Lanka Umpires and Scorers Association and its Central and Southern Province Associations met last night to shortlist the 54 award winners.
That includes the grand winners of the 44th Observer SLT Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of Year and the Schoolgirl Cricketer of Year. Associated with the selections was the CEO of the batsman.com Kumara Gamhewage as the official statistics provider for the Observer SLT Mobitel School Cricketers of Year as well as the SLSCA.
The Most Popular winners of the 44th Observer SLT Mobitel School Cricketers of the Year - Dunith Wellalage of St. Joseph’s College and Chushadi Kaushalya of Dharmapala Vidyalaya, have already been picked.
Wellalage, the Sri Lanka Under-19 captain, polled 44,564 votes to head the Observer SLT Mobitel Most Popular Schoolboy of the Year 2022 – 44,564 votes while Rusanda Gamage of St. Peter’s College, with 39,997 votes, emerged runner up.
Kaushalya polled 40,077 votes to become the Observer SLT Mobitel Most Popular Schoolgirl Cricketer of the Year 2022 while the runner up title was won by Manudi Nanayakkara of Princess of Wales College Moratuwa, polling 36,112 votes.
Going down the memory lane, it is on record that Gihan Rupasinghe has become the fourth Nalandian to become the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 2006.
The first-ever Observer Schoolboy Cricketer produced by Nalanda was former Sri Lanka captain Roshan Mahanama, a unique cricketer who later excelled as a reputed ICC Match Referee. After Mahanama won the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year title in two successive years in 1983 and 1984, it was won by his schoolmate Asanka Gurusinha the very next year 1985.
Nalanda produced yet another champion cricketer when Kumara Dharmasena emerged Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1989. Dharmasena is currently in Australia officiating in the ICC T20 World Cup as elite panel umpire. After producing three of the greats – Mahanama, Gurusinha and Dharmasena, the fourth Nalandian to become the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year was Rupasinghe who won the richest prize in school cricket in 2006.
Rupasinghe Jayawardene Mudiyanselage Gihan Madushanka Rupasinghe was born on March 5, 1986 at Wathupitiwala. Rupasinghe has a reputation in the domestic circuit for being a big hitter, coming into bat in the middle order. He was the second-highest scorer for Tamil Union in the Premier League tournament in 2008-09 and his first-class returns that season - 945 runs at 52.50 - drew the attention of the selectors.
He was elevated to the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team and scored two half-centuries in the unofficial Tests against Pakistan ‘A’ at home. He then made it to Sri Lanka’s T20 national squad against the touring New Zealand national side.
Rupasinghe was a member of Thilina Kandamby-led Sri Lanka ‘A’ that toured South Africa. The squad had experienced bowlers in Rangana Herath, Malinga Bandara, Dilruwan Perera, Dammika Prasad, Sujeewa de Silva, Chanaka Welagedara and Ishara Amerasinghe.
The youngsters picked were fast bowler Suranga Lakmal, left-arm spinner Gihan Rupasinghe, Angelo Mathews and Tharanga Paranavithana, who was the leading run-getter in the Premier League Tournament Tier A in 2007-08. Kandamby was the second-highest run-scorer behind Paranavithana and both were part of the Sinhalese Sports Club side that won the title. Kaushal Silva was the wicketkeeper of the squad.
Apart from winning the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year main title in 2006, Rupasinghe also became the best all rounder in the same year. He captained Nalanda First XI team in 2006.
He played for the Sri Lanka Schools under-17 team at the Asian Schools Cricket Tournament held in Sri Lanka in 2002 and toured with the Sri Lanka under-19 cricket team to Pakistan in 2005.
He was also included in the Sri Lanka Under-19 team for the Youth World Cup in 2004.
Rupasinghe is the 30th Twenty20 International ‘cap’ for Sri Lanka. He made his T20 International debut on September 2, 2009 against New Zealand. He has played 97 first class matches, scoring 4,908 runs.
The Observer SLT Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year has always produced players for the Sri Lanka national team right from the inaugural Test team.
There is no exception this time around with the cream of the world’s top teams clashing for honours at the ICC World Cup T20 tournament currently being played in Australia.
Kusal Mendis, has won the Observer SLT Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 2013 when he was leading Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa. Mendis has been an important part of the Lankan team since his school career.
Mendis blossomed through the age-group system and in next to no time, he became one of the most promising young batsmen in the world. He had played only 16 first-class innings before he made his Test debut at the age of 20 and had hit only one first-class hundred before he made a maiden Test century - 176 against Australia at Pallekele, in a short time after his glory at the Mega Show.
The Observer SLT Mobitel School Cricketers of the Year contest has a rich history of producing legendary cricketers, including Chief ICC Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle, Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga, world’s highest Test wicket taker Muttiah Muralitharan, Most valuable player of 1996 triumph Sanath Jayasuriya and the former ICC Match Referee Roshan Mahanama.
Winning the Observer SLT Mobitel School Cricketers of the Year title has been the dream of every school cricketer as they generally believe that the prestigious title would take them closer to sporting the Sri Lanka ‘cap’. Most past winners of the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year title had made their Sri Lanka debut quickly. Some of them made it to the Sri Lanka team just months after winning the ‘crown’.
In recent years, there are five past Observer SLT Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year main award winners who have shown their might in the Sri Lanka team - Dinesh Chandimal (2009), Bhanuka Rajapakse (twice in 2010 and 2011), Niroshan Dickwella (2012), Kusal Mendis (2013) and Charith Asalanka (twice in 2015 and 2016).
SLT Mobitel has played a key role in the promotion of the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year during the past 15 years.
Under the dynamic leadership of Sri Lanka Telecom Group Chairman Rohan Fernando who has played a key role in promoting school cricket in a big way.
Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media who is also the Chairman of the ANCL, Anusha Palpita and Director Editorial of ANCL, Sisira Paranathanthri have always give their fullest support to make the event a great success.
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