No change at the top in Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year

The chart-topper, Navindu Nirmal of St. Aloysius’ College Galle, continues to lead the All-Island Schools segment of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2017 as it reaches its ninth week.

However, as of last week the top 10 names on the list remained unchanged with the contest getting more competitive among the top three. Navindu remains at the top with a tally of 55,886 after receiving a combined 6,744 votes from the ended week. Zahira College’s Mohamed Najath also remains at second with the addition of 5,512 combined votes and the gap between the top two is getting wider. Najath’s tally is 41,918 and the deficit between the two is 13,968. At third is Lasith Croospulle, who received the most number of combined votes during the ended week which counts to 10,789. This takes his tally to 34,229 as he stands to challenge the two at the top. The others on the list too have added to their existing tally but not as much as the top three.

This list will remain open until the end of March, before it is pruned down to the top 20. By the end of April the list will be cut down to 15 and by the end of May only the top 10 will be shown. This will be valid to all categories of the competition.

Pulitha Yasas Sri Sarathchandra of Sri Sumangala College Panadura continues to dominate the Emerging Schools category while the International Schools category is led by the sole runner Shimraz Shahil of Alethea International School.

Coupons of the competition will be published in the Sunday Times, the two English dailies, the Daily Mirror and DailyFT, and the two Sinhala dailies, Daily Lankadeepa and Ada. Coupons will run for 26 weeks with the deadline set for week beginning on 2 July. Readers could vote for their favourite schoolboy cricketer during that period.

Online voting could be done through Dialog Axiata’s digital online voting system portal to vote for the Most Popular Cricketer via www.dialog.lk/cricket. Player registration closed on 28 February. Both coupon votes and online votes will be counted on a weekly basis and the official results published every week in the five newspapers and its websites, as well as that of Dialog Axiata’s online portal. The deadline for online voting will be the same as for the coupons. Accepting coupons valid for each week will be received only until Thursday noon on each week. Online voting for each week will be counted by Thursday noon each week. This deadline will be strictly implemented by the organisers. Coupons for the related week will Not Be Accepted After Thursday Noon each week. This is an open competition and unethical campaigning will be a disqualification. The Sports Editor of the Sunday Times reserves all rights to disqualify such players if any illegal movements are found with proof. The whole process is closely monitored and reported by Pricewaterhouse Cooper, the official auditors of the competition.

Week 9 Results:

All-Island Schools 

Navindu Nirmal (St. Aloysius’ Galle) 55,886 

Mohamed Najath (Zahira College) 41,918 

Lasith Croosepulle (Maris Stella College) 34,229 

Charana Nanayakkara (Thurstan College) 10,005 

Santhush Goonathilake (St. Peter’s College) 7,834 

Romesh Nallaperuma (S. Thomas’ College) 6,377 

Dinitha Basnayake (St. Benedict’s College) 4,404 

Helitha Vithanage (Royal College) 1,571 

Lakshina Rodrigo (St. Peter’s College) 1,104 

Mohamed Rifaz (Presidents College) 854 

Sahan Suraweera (Ananda College) 664 

Dileepa Jayalath (Ananda College) 503 

Nikesh Anjana (S. Thomas’ Colleg) 341 

P.A. Dananjaya (Richmond College) 285 

Hareen Buddhila (St. Aloysius College) 243 

Sammu Ashan (Ananda College) 194 

Asel Sigera (Ananda College) 163 

Pasindu Sooriyabandara (Royal College) 156 

Jehan Daniel (St. Joseph’s College) 102 

Sanjula Abeywickrama (Isipathana College) 98 

Naveen Gunawardana (Thurstan College) 53 

Avishka Perera (Nalanda College) 50 

Dineth Madurawala (St. Joseph’s College) 25 

Thilina Perera (Wesley College) 24 

Shanogeeth Shanmuganathan (Trinity College) 24 

Salith Fernando (St. Anthony’s Wattala) 17 

Kavindu Gimhana (Ananda College) 15 

Pathum Nissanka (Isipathana College) 14 

Thilina Nemesh (Prince of Wales’) 10 

Avishka Fernando (St. Sebastian’s Moratuwa) 8 

Lasith Udage (St. Mary’s Kegalle) 8 

Emerging Schools 

Pulitha Yasas (Sri Sumangala Panadura) 1,802 

Gimhana Dhanushka (Piliyandala Central) 130 

Methushan Thilina (Kegalu Vidyalaya) 83 

Nipuna Ransika (P. de S. Kularatne MV) 81 

Sahan Perera (Christ King Pannipitiya) 48 

Raveen Yasas (Devapathiraja Rathgama) 42 

Imesh Basnayake (St. Peter’s Gampaha) 36 

Hirusha Mendis (Siddartha Central Balapitiya) 27 

Suminda Lakshan (De La Salle Mutwal) 16 

Tissara Dilshan Jayananda (National School Polonnaruwa) 8 

Shrushee Adhishtana (St. Bernadette Kurunegala) 1 

International Schools 

Shimraz Shahil (Alethea International) 104 

Readers prizes go to: 1. Oshadie Sarathchathchandra, 379, Galle Road, Nalluruwa, Panadura, 2. Anoma Yapa, Pethsiri Udukure, Lower Kanatthewela, Bandarawela, 3. Asindu Lakshan, 270-34A, Thilakapura, Ambalangoda, 4. Deelaka Abyegunawardena, 34/6A, Walawwattha Road, Nugegoda.