Dellon continues to impress 

By the end of the eighth week count of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Cricketer of the Year 2018 competition, Dellon Peiris of S. Thomas’ College has doubled his count over his nearest rival in the All-Island Schools category. 

Dellon, the top left-arm spinner of S. Thomas’, has added 1,207 combined votes which moved his tally to 4,869 and gained a lead of 2,681 over Sachin Silva of St. Peter’s College. 

Dellon’s pace looks very healthy as he comfortably moves forward as the leader of the All-Island Schools segment for the fourth consecutive week. Meanwhile, Sachin added 511 combined votes, which took his count to 2,188 and Kavin Peiris from Lumbini College remains third despite his small addition of 71 votes. 

However, Ananda College skipper Asel Sigera made great strides from sixth to fourth after receiving 797 votes while Dulaj Bandara of Dharmaraja College and Kalana Perera of S. Thomas’ slid down a place each to fifth and sixth positions respectively from a list of 17 cricketers from Division I schools. 

Ananda Sasthralaya cricketer Sonara Karunathunga continues to lead the Emerging Schools category while his teammate Thimira Malshan follows behind closely at second for yet another week. Sonara obtained 301 combined votes as his count reaches 986 while Thimira received 354 votes to reach 705. But the actual winners of this category are Kenula Gunarathne of St. Aloysius, Ratnapura and Denuwan Perera of Carey College. Kenula leapt from fifth to third with the addition of 407 votes, making his count 464 while Denuwan’s accumulation of 321 takes his count to 420 and keeps him in fourth position. Pulitha Yasas of Sri Sumangala Panadura was forced to back down to fifth position from third. 

Harshitha Samarawickrama of Anula Vidyalaya, who shot to the top position in the Girls’ category, maintains her lead with a healthy count of 819, which was further bolstered by the addition of 232 combined votes. Kaveesha Dilhari of Devapathiraja College, Rathgama has slowed down a bit, but remains in second place with 51 votes, 768 votes behind Harshitha. The category welcomes another contestant, Pabasara Ranabahu of Rathnavali Girls’ School, Gampaha, who lands in at third place ahead of Ruwini Nandasena of St. Joseph’s Girls’ School. 

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 last season’s 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 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. 

Players who register online during October will have their eligibility officially scrutinised and entered into the online voting mechanism from 1 November, while the customary voting through coupons will still be on. The online portal will be open for voting 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 be open 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. 

This week’s digital voting count was monitored and approved by auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

All-Island Schools 

nDellon Peiris S. Thomas’ College 4,869 

nSachin Silva St. Peter’s College 2,188 

nKavin Peiris Lumbini College 1,202 

nAsel Sigera Ananda College 1073 

nDulaj Bandara Dharmaraja College 633 

nKalana Perera S. Thomas’ College 359 

nRavindu Fernando Maris Stella College 142 

nYasitha Samararathne Dharmaraja College 57 

nNimnaka Jayathilake St. Anthony’s College 36 

nMahendra Absolom St. Joseph’s College 34 

nKalana Wijesiri Ananda College 30 

nSachin Ravindu St. Joseph’s College 23 

Emerging Schools 

nSonara Karunathunga Ananda Sasthralaya 986 

nThimira Malshan Ananda Sasthralaya 705 

nKenula Gunaratne St Aloysius Ratnapura 464 

nDenuwan Perera Carey College 420 

nPulitha Yasas Sri Sumangala Panadura 209 

nPathum Hasaranga Vidyaloka Galle 55 

Girls’ School s

nHarshitha Samarawickrama Anula Vidyalaya 819 

nKaveesha Dilhari Devapathiraja, Rathgama 51 

nPabasara Ranabahu Rathnavali GS, Gampaha 3 

nRuwini Nandasena St. Joseph’s Girls School 1 

Readers prizes go to: 1. Mathisha Palangasinghe, 46, Pangiriwatte Mawatha, Mirihana, Nugegoda, 2. Gihani Ekanayake, 322/36, Uthuwatthanda Road, Thalawathugoda, 3. Vihara Thewmini, 256/38A, Ruhunupura, 4. Nihal Bandara, Greenwood Estate, Nawalapitiya.