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The first week’s results of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2019 contest, which kicked off last week, comes out this weekend with a few known names.
The results which came out yesterday were the cumulative votes counted from Coupon No. 1 and Coupon No.2. Taking the honour of leading the All-Island Schools category is Sukhitha Manoj of St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa. He ends up on top of the list of 10 players with 186 votes.
Next in line is Abhishek Ananda of Trinity College who has 69 votes and following him is Nishan Madushka of Moratu Vidyalaya, who is two votes behind.
The others on the list are Lakshitha Rasanjana (Nalanda), Pasindu Ushetti (Maris Stella College), Nuwanidu Fernando (St. Sebastian’s Moratuwa), Ravindu Fernando (Maris Stella), Randheer Ranasinghe (St. Anne’s Kurunegala), Sandun Mendis (Richmond) and Dinitha Prabhanaka (Devapathiraja Rathgama). Besides chart-topper Sukhitha, the remaining nine are, at present, going neck-and-neck.
The Emerging Schools category, where players of Division II and III cricket-playing schools get to come among the top, is initiated by Thanusha Sandaruwan Costa of St. John’s College, Nugegoda. Thanusha has 54 votes to his account and is currently sitting comfortable against the two contenders Vishal Rukshan (St. Peter’s College Gampaha) and Sachin Jayasinghe (Royal College Panadura).
Unlike last year, when the Girls’ Schools category was introduced to the ever popular competition in the country, this year the segment kicks off from the word go. Sithmi Nirasha of Anula Vidyalaya Nugegoda takes the sole run, but in the weeks to come she could face more rivalry from other schools as well.
The nature of the race to the top could definitely hit a peak as the weeks progress, with 24 more weekends to go before it comes to an interesting end. Coupons will be published from 14 October in the Sunday Times and it 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. From this year coupons will also come will out in the Tamil Mirror.
Readers can vote for their favourite schoolboy or schoolgirl cricketer and take them to the winning post during this period before the deadline of 26 weeks comes to an end.
In addition, Dialog Axiata’s online voting system through their official online portal to vote for the Most Popular Cricketer (www.dialog.lk/cricket) will come alive from 1 November. Players from all categories, including those already in the fray through coupons, should register themselves using the following link: www.dialog.lk/cricket/register. The method to follow in the digital registration process has been made simple for schoolboys and schoolgirls.
Players who have represented their respective school in First XI cricket and who possess a tally of 400 or above runs or 25 wickets or above in the last 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 under three categories -- the All-Island, Emerging and Girls schools - according to the segmentation process of the Sri Lanka School Cricket Association.
Online registration
The digital voting mechanism will have its usual 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 from 14 October to 16 November. Even schoolboy cricketer whose name has been 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.
Players who register online during October will be officially scrutinised of their eligibility and entered into the online voting mechanism from 1 November, while the 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 16 November. During November, the names of registered players will be released weekly, every Wednesday, while the cutoff date for weekly scrutinising will be the previous Friday of each week. Online voting will be open from 21 November to 31 March 2019.
Both coupon votes and online votes will be counted on a weekly basis and the official results published every week beginning next Sunday in the five newspapers and its websites, as well as that of Dialog Axiata’s online portal.
The deadline for coupons will be every Thursday noon 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 for coupons, only those numbered for the particular week will be taken into count.
All-Island Schools
Sukhitha Manoj - St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa 186
Abhishek Ananda - Trinity College 69
Nishan Madushka - Moratu Vidyalaya 67
Lakshitha Rasanjana - Nalanda College 58
Pasindu Ushetti - Maris Stella College 56
Nuwanidu Fernando - St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa 50
Ravindu Fernando - Maris Stella College 45
Randheer Ranasinghe - St. Anne’s College Kurunegala 33
Sandun Mendis - Richmond College 22
Dinitha Prabhanaka - Devapathiraja College Rathgama 17
Emerging Schools
Thanusha Sandaruwan - St. John’s College Nugegoda 54
Vishal Ruskhan - St. Peter’s College Gampaha 15
Sachin Jayasinghe - Royal College Panadura 1
Girls’ Schools
Sithmi Nirasha - Anula Vidyalaya Nugegoda 8
Readers prizes go to: 1. A. Witharana, 50/3/1, Heenatikumbura, Talangama North, Battaramulla, 2. Dhananjaya Premathilaka, 23/A, Thammitha, Makevita, 3. Krishan Anandakumara, 152, Mapanawathura, Kandy, 4. B.A. Mather, 13A-6/2, Fussel’s Lane, Wellawatte.
