Dellon continues to stamp his authority on competition 

Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Cricketer of the Year 2018

S. Thomas› College ace left-arm spinner Dellon Peiris continues to rule the All-Island Schools segment of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Cricketer of the Year 2018 competition. 

Peiris is surely making his intentions clear with the rapid progress by adding up 1,639 votes, which took his tally to 2,254 by the end of the sixth week. He leads Sachin Silva of St. Peter›s College by 1,183 votes, a healthy margin at this stage of the 26-week-long competition. 

Sachin too has made good progress, but was not as productive as Dellon, as he continues to remain in second position. He has added 782 votes during the week as the total moves up to 1,071, slightly above Kavin Peiris of Lumbini College by 83 votes. Peiris received the second best count for the week by receiving a count of 804 votes. 

Dulaj Bandara of Dharmaraja College remains at fourth place with an addition of 219 votes and a tally of 363 while Ravindu Fernando of Maris Stella College pushed down Kalana Perera of S. Thomas› College by a place to claim fifth position within the first week of the introduction of digital voting via www.dialog.lk/cricket. 

Sonara Karunathunga of Ananda Sasthralaya Kotte continues to enjoy the top position of the Emerging Schools category, which he claimed last week. With the addition of 298 votes, Sonara takes his tally up to 453, a lead of 286 votes from Pulitha Yasas of Sri Sumangala College, Panadura. Pulitha continues at second place with 167 votes, after adding 51 last week. Sonara’s teammate Thimira Malshan has not received any votes, but he remains in the third slot. 

The newly introduced Girls’ School category has made good progress. Kaveesha Dilhari of Devapathiraja College, Ratgama continues to dominate the segment with 43 votes but she has got two rivals - Harshitha Samarawickrama of Anula Vidyalaya and Ruwini Nandasena of St. Joseph’s Girls’ School - as the battle looks to get interesting. 

Players who have represented their respective school in First XI cricket and who possess a tally of 400 or more runs or 25 or more wickets in the previous 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 in three categories - All-Island, Emerging and Girls Schools - according to the segmentation process of the Sri Lanka School Cricket Association. 

All schools competing in the ongoing Inter-School Division I tournament will be categorised under the All-Island Schools category while the remaining schools, competing under the Division II and III categories, will come under the Emerging Schools bracket. The 32 girls’ schools will come under the Girls’ Schools category. This method will be in effect for the selections as well as for choosing the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer. 

Coupons will be published in the Sunday Times and will be available throughout the week in the two English dailies, the Daily Mirror and Daily FT, and the two Sinhala dailies, Daily Lankadeepa and Ada, and Sinhala weekend newspaper Deshaya. Coupons will be available for 26 weeks with the deadline set for 5 April 2018. Readers can vote for their favourite schoolboy or schoolgirl cricketer and take them to the winning post during this period. 

In addition, votes for the Most Popular Cricketer can be cast through Dialog Axiata’s online voting system (www.dialog.lk/cricket/register). 

The digital voting mechanism will follow the 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 at www.dialog.lk/cricket/register until 30 November. 

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. 

The online portal opened for voting from 1 November while online registration will still be accepted until 30 November. During November, the names of registered players will be released every Wednesday while the cutoff date will be the previous Friday of each week. Online voting will go on until 5 April 2018. 

Both coupon votes and online votes will be counted on a weekly basis and the official results will be published every week. 

The deadline for coupons will be noon every Thursday while the weekly cutoff for online votes will be noon every Wednesday. Online votes received after the weekly cutoff time will be counted for the next week, while only those coupons numbered for the particular week will be taken into count. 

All-Island Schools 

Dellon Peiris - S. Thomas’ College 2,254 

Sachin Silva - St. Peter’s College 1,071 

Kavin Peiris - Lumbini College 988 

Dulaj Bandara - Dharmaraja College 363 

Ravindu Fernando - Maris Stella College 115 

Kalana Perera - S. Thomas’ College 88 

Yasitha Samararathne - Dharmaraja College 51 

Mahendra Absolom - St. Joseph’s College 30 

Kalana Wijesiri - Ananda College 24 

Sachin Ravindu - St. Joseph’s College 23 

Nimnaka Jayathilake - St. Anthony’s College 23 

Emerging Schools 

Sonara Karunathunga - Ananda Sasthralaya 453 

Pulitha Yasas - Sri Sumangala Panadura 167 

Thimira Malshan - Ananda Sasthralaya 41 

Pathum Hasaranga - Vidyaloka Galle 29 

Girls’ School 

Kaveesha Dilhari - Devapathiraja, Rathgama 43 

Harshitha Samarawickrama - Anura Vidyalaya 13 

Ruwini Nandasena - St. Joseph’s Girls’ School 1 

Readers prizes go to: 1. Ishandi Gunawardene, Kennavita, Palathurupitiya, Hindellana, Ratnapura, 2. K.C. Manchanayaka, 233, Mackwatte, Asgiriya, Gampaha, 3. Sahan Deshapriya, B/G/1, Vithanage Mawatha, Colombo 2, 4. Dhananjaya Premathilaka, 23/B, Thammita, Makevita.