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Sachin Silva of St. Peter’s College, who had the honour of leading the opening week’s count, regained the top position of the All-Island Schools segment as the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018 reaches its third week.
Sachin added 56 to his existing count, which helped him overtake last week’s leader Kavin Pieris and remain on top with a lead of 20 votes.
Kavin, of Lumbini College, managed to add 30 votes during the week as his total count moved up to 105. Despite making a good debut by taking the lead, Kavin moved down to second position.
At third place is Dulaj Bandara of Dharmaraja College, Kandy while Kalana Perera of S. Thomas’ College takes the fourth slot. Ravindu Fernando of Maris Stella College Negombo debuts in fifth position with a count of 46 votes in the competition which sees 10 contenders in action.
In the Emerging Schools segment, Pulitha Yasas of Sri Sumangala College Panadura remains in the lead for the third week running. He has two rivals in this segment: Sonara Karunathunga of Ananda Sastralaya Kotte and newcomer Pathum Hasaranga of Vidyaloka College, Galle. The newly-introduced Girls’ Schools category is yet to kick off.
Players who have represented their respective school in first XI cricket and have 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 segments - All-Island, Emerging and Girls’ schools - according to the segmentation process of 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.
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. From 1 November the online portal will be open for voting while online registration will be still 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 from 1 November to 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
Emerging Schools
Readers prizes go to: 1. Haashya Seneviratne, 274/6, ‘Carlton’, Katunayake, 2. Priyantha Herath, ‘Priyantha Wasa’, Pilapitiya, Kiribathkumbura, 3. Thilan Erandu, 118/5C, Hokandara South, 4. M.A.V.W. Makevita, 326/4A, 11th Lane, Sirimangalawatte, Piliyandala.
