All points to a hectic tussle though Navindu continues to occupy the top slot
The race to the top between Navindu Nirmal and Mohamed Najath is evidently intensifying. The All-Island Schools segment of the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2017 competition could get hotter as the weeks move on. By the seventh week both contestants have been able to surpass the 30,000 vote mark as Lasith Croospulle too have made indications that he is also keen to get into the fray.
Navindu of St. Aloysius College Galle takes his tally to a massive 37394 after adding up 22550 votes combined by coupons and digital voting by the ended week. He retains the top spot for yet another week with a healthy gap of 7141 from Zahira College’s Najath. Najath added 16950 combined votes to reach 30253.
Claiming the third slot is Croospulle of Maris Stella College, with a tally of 19364. He received 11328 in the ended week but has a long way to reach to catch up with the leaders. Charana Nanayakkara of Thurstan College drops down a place to fourth while Santhush Goonathilake of St. Peter’s College moves to fifth place. S. Thomas’ College skipper Romesh Nallaperuma too loses a place and loves down to sixth while Dinitha Basnayake of St. Benedict’s College remain at seventh slot. Royal skipper Helitha Vithanage gains three places from last week climb to eighth and Lakshina Rodrigo of St. Peter’s loses a place and comes down to ninth. At tenth is Sahan Suraweera of Ananda College, who too has lost a place from last week.
By the seventh week the number of schoolboy cricketers in contention in the All-Island Schools segment has reached to 31 with four new entrants. The list will remain open until end of March, where it will be pruned down to the Top 20. By end of April the list will be pruned down to 15 and by end of May the list will be cut down to Top 10. This will comply to all categories of the competition.
Pulitha Yasas Sri Sarathchandra of Sri Sumangala College Panadura continues to dominate the Emerging Schools category and he is nearing the mark of 1500 votes. This category too has a good number of ten contestants. The International Schools category is occupied by the sole contestant Shimraz Shahil of Alethea International School.
ImportantÂ
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 July 2. Readers could vote for their favourite schoolboy cricketer and take them to the winning post during that period.
Dialog Axiata has introduced a digital version with an online voting system through an Online Portal to vote for the Most Popular Cricketer (www.dialog.lk/cricket/register). Players who wish to enter the fray will have to confirm their participation by registering online with www.dialog.lk/cricket until February 28. Even schoolboy cricketers whose names are in the competition already in the competition, included by reader votes, must register before February ends. Online registration entries will be strictly received only until February 28. For online voting visit www.dialog.lk/cricket. 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.
All-Island Schools
Navindu Nirmal (St. Aloysius’ Galle) 37394
Mohamed Najath (Zahira College) 30253
Lasith Croosepulle (Maris Stella College) 19364
Charana Nanayakkara (Thurstan College) 9631
Santhush Goonathilake (St. Peter’s College) 7467
Romesh Nallaperuma (S. Thomas’ College) 6317
Dinitha Basnayake (St. Benedict’s College) 3722
Helitha Vithanage (Royal College) 1283
Lakshina Rodrigo (St. Peter’s College) 983
Sahan Suraweera (Ananda College) 632
Dileepa Jayalath (Ananda College) 447
Mohamed Rifaz (Presidents College) 333
P.A. Dananjaya (Richmond College) 275
Nikesh Anjana (S. Thomas’ College) 184
Sammu Ashan (Ananda College) 179
Hareen Buddhila (St. Aloysius College) 156
Asel Sigera (Ananda College) 147
Jehan Daniel (St. Joseph’s College) 67
Naveen Gunawardana (Thurstan College) 48
Avishka Perera (Nalanda College) 42
Pasindu Sooriyabandara (Royal College) 29
Dineth Madurawala (St. Joseph’s College) 25
Sanjula Abeywickrama (Isipathana College) 25
Thilina Perera (Wesley College) 24
Shanogeeth Shanmuganathan (Trinity College) 23
Salith Fernando (St. Anthony’s Wattala) 17
Pathum Nissanka (Isipathana College) 14
Thilina Nemesh (Prince of Wales’) 9
Kavindu Gimhana (Ananda College) 8
Avishka Fernando (St. Sebastian’s Moratuwa) 8
Lasith Udage (St. Mary’s Kegalle) 2
Emerging Schools
Pulitha Yasas (Sri Sumangala Panadura) 1490
Gimhana Dhanushan (Piliyandala Central) 44
Nipuna Ransika (P. de S. Kularatne MV) 31
Raveen Yasas (Devapathiraja Rathgama) 30
Methushan Thilina (Kegalu Vidyalaya) 30
Hirusha Mendis (Siddartha Central Balapitiya) 27
Suminda Lakshan (De La Salle Mutwal) 16
Sahan Perera (Christ King Pannipitiya) 9
Tissara Dilshan Jayananda (National School Polonnaruwa) 3
Shrushee Adhishtana (St. Bernadette Kurunegala) 1
International Schools
Shimraz Shahil (Alethea International) 48
Readers prizes go to: 1. Nimal Vijayagunasiri, 61/65, Ambawatte Road, Abeyratne Mawatha, Boralesgamuwa, 2. Aasif Izadeen, 6, Park Terrace, Zoo Road, Dehiwela, 3. Thamali Udakandage, 342C, Mahawatte Road, Himbutana, Mulleriyawa New Town, 4. Lekha Ranasinghe, 233D, Dampe, Meegoda.