Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer Awards on 20 June at BMICH

Now that the nitty-gritties of agreeing upon who the best schoolboy and schoolgirl cricketers are for the year 2018, it is time to announce their names and celebrate their accomplishments. 

This edition’s competition will be held at the BMICH on Wednesday, 20 June. 

The selection process of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018 was held at Hotel Galadari in Colombo on 25 April by an 18-strong selection panel headed by cricket doyen Jayantha Seneviratne, who is a former national cricketer and a national selector himself. 

As is now customary, the process was a hectic exercise for the members of the panel which had experts of the game and representatives from the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) and Association of Cricket Umpires. 

Led by the versatile Seneviratne, the panel included former prominent cricketers who are presently holding top positions in cricket administration. 

As is done annually, all the best performances were considered in all categories of the All-Island Schools and Emerging Schools in addition to looking out for the best team overall and teams that did well from respective regions. 

Once again performances of the Singer Schools Under-19 Cricket Tournaments, traditional fixtures and international commitments were considered during the selection process. 

As happens annually, the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year has done justice to the talents of the youngsters who showcased their skills both locally and internationally. 

The talent of all schoolboy cricketers were scrutinised before being picked by the panel of experts. 

Besides Chairman Seneviratne, the others who contributed their expertise were Brendan Kuruppu, Carlton Bernadus, Aubrey Kuruppu, Upul Sumathipala and Lakshman Ranasinghe who served as independent judges. 

THe SLSCA officials were Oshara Panditharathna - President and Co-Chairman of Selection Panel; Dilshan de Silva – Secretary; Jagath Senaratne - Vice President; Kapila Jayalath - Vice President; Nihal Fernando - Treasurer and Kamal Indrajith - U-19 Tournament Secretary. 

The Association of Cricket Umpires were represented by Daminda Cooray - Vice President; Harsha Perera - Vice President; Rohitha Kottachchi - General Secretary; Thassim Junkeer - Assignment Secretary; Rohan Chandrakantha - Assistant General Secretary and Nishantha Dissanayake - ExCo/Provincial Representative. 

The statistics for selection were provided by Batsman.com run by Kumara Gamhewage and his team consisting of Chaminda Kaushan, Eranga Madushanka and Viraj. The coordinator for the selection and the event once again was Ajit Bodinagoda.