Pete Sachin Silva takes the initiative

The first week’s results of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018 contest, which kicked off last week, saw Sachin Silva of St. Peter’s College, who was also a major contender last season, take top honours. 

Having enjoyed a successful season with a reasonable record in batting and bowling for the Peterites, Sachin comes in with new hopes this season, obtaining 37 votes at the competition’s kickoff. 

Next to him is Dharmaraja College cricketer Dulaj Bandara, who is also a potential player. At third and fourth are two good cricketers from S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia - Kalana Perera and Dellon Peiris. They are followed by Nimnaka Jayathilake of St. Anthony’s College Katugastota. 

The Emerging Schools category, where players from Division II and III cricket-playing schools are housed, is led by Pulitha Yasas Sri Sarathchandra of Sri Sumangala College Panadura. He was also the frontrunner last season and ended up runner-up eventually after a great battle. The newly introduced Girls’ Schools category is yet to kick off. The nature of the race to the top could definitely hit a peak as the weeks progress with 25 more weekends to go before it comes to an interesting end. 

Coupons were published from 1 October in the Sunday Times and will follow 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, Deshaya. Coupons will run for 26 weeks with the deadline set for 30 April 2018. Readers can vote for their favourite schoolboy or schoolgirl cricketer and take them to the winning post during this period. 

In addition, Dialog Axiata’s online voting system to vote for the Most Popular Cricketer (www.dialog.lk/cricket) went online on 1 October. There will be a different method to follow in the digital process of voting for the Most Popular Schoolboy or Schoolgirl Cricketer. 

Players who have represented their respective school in First XI cricket with a tally of 400 or more runs or 25 wickets or above in the last season will automatically be eligible for the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018 competition. Schools have been categorised under three categories - All-Island, Emerging and Girls’ Schools - according to the segmentation process of the Sri Lanka School Cricket Association. 

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

The digital voting mechanism will have its usual procedure 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 - from 1 October to 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 Deputy Editor - Sports of the Sunday Times will be final. 

Players who register online during October will have their eligibility officially scrutinised and entered into the online voting mechanism from 1 November, while customary voting through coupons will be still on. From 1 November, the online portal will be open for voting while online registration will be still accepted up to 30 November. During November, the names of registered players will be released every Wednesday while the cut-off date for weekly scrutinising will be the previous Friday of each week. Online voting will be open from 1 November to 30 April 2018. 

Both coupon votes and online votes will be counted on a weekly basis and the official results will be published every week beginning next Sunday in the five newspapers and their websites as well as that of Dialog Axiata’s online portal. 

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

All-Island Schools 

nSachin Silva - St. Peter’s College 37 

nDulaj Bandara - Dharmaraja College 24 

nKalana Perera - S. Thomas’ College 17 

nDellon Peiris - S. Thomas’ College 9 

nNimnaka Jayathilake - St. Anthony’s College 8 

Emerging Schools 

nPulitha Yasas - Sri Sumangala Panadura 15 

nSonara Karunathunga - Ananda Sasthralaya 1 

Readers prizes go to: 1. A. Witharana, 50/3/1, Heenatikumbura, Talangama North, Battaramulla, 2. Barton Mather, 13A-6/2, Fussel’s Lane, Wellawatte, 3. W.M.J. Udaya Kymara, 84/2, Rathmalkaduwa Road, Sinharapitiya, Gampola, 4. Chanaka Ruvinda Fernando, 62, Pushparama Road, Pothupitiya, Wadduwa