A night for the brightest stars
Pages 14 and 15
With a torrent of confetti and a burst of applause, Trinitian cricket captain Niroshan Dickwella was formally recognized by a capacity crowd, comprising the country’s finest school cricketing talent as well as eminent personalities from the sport’s local fraternity, as this year’s BATA-The Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year, at a dazzling awards ceremony staged at the Musaeus College auditorium.
The young wicketkeeper-batsman becomes the 33rd schoolboy to secure this title, propelling him into an elite group of past and present players which includes Arjuna Ranatunga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Marvan Attapatu, Ranjan Madugalle, Thilan Samaraweera and Dinesh Chandimal to name but a few.
Besides Niroshan, the stunning spectacle also paid tribute to a raft of prodigiously gifted young cricketers spread across the length and breadth of the island. The awards were divided into three key categories, namely the All Island Schools, Emerging Schools and International Schools groups. Each of these segments produced their own Most Popular Schoolboy cricketers, who were identified after months of feverish voting and meticulous counting.
When the name of Thurstan College’s Sajeewa Salgado, who had acquired an impressive tally of 24501 votes, was called out, the audience produced a loud and sustained ovation. It then replicated
Furthermore, he extolled the virtues of an uncompromising work ethic as well as an undying passion for the game, identifying players like Kumar Sangakkara, whom he said “has done well in all forms of the game”, as successful exponents of this philosophy
this reception when Sasindu Perera of St. John’s College Panadura and Lakshan Kodagoda of Gateway International School took to the stage to claim their Most Popular Cricketer trophies in the Emerging and International school categories respectively.
The evening though was to present plenty more opportunities for raucous celebration. It began fittingly in magnificent fashion with the lighting of a human oil lamp, created by several nimble female dancers from the Prasadhi Dance Academy. Doing the honours were the event’s Chief Guest, national cricketing legend Michael Tissera, along with several other distinguished Guests of Honour.
Stressing the fact that the game has grown and changed in the years since he last took to the field as a schoolboy , Mr. Tissera, during his welcome address, warned many of the fresh-faced whipper- snappers in the audience, bearing their school blazers proudly, to be avoid the numerous pitfalls currently presented by the sport.
Furthermore, he extolled the virtues of an uncompromising work ethic as well as an undying passion for the game, identifying players like Kumar Sangakkara, whom he said “has done well in all forms of the game”, as successful exponents of this philosophy.
The show then hit fever pitch as the night’s entertainment unravelled its star power. Annesley Malawana and the Super Chimes kicked things off with an impassioned medley of songs that wound its way along memory lane back to the 60’s and 70’s. His steady tempo was then bumped up a notch by energetic performances from a lineup of seasoned singers and entertainers. These included the massively popular Lahiru Perera, who enlivened the crowd with his light banter and extremely catchy local tunes and Ronnie Leitch, who elicited interminable laughter with a hilarious musical skit.
Interspersing each of these performances as well as different portions of the awards distribution, the Prasadhi Dance Troupe performed their cleverly choreographed items with unbridled exuberance, much to the delighted of many of the male attendees, in particular the schoolboys, who were by now relaxed, to put it mildly.
However, the true stars of the night were the schoolboys themselves. Arriving from schools as far flung as St. Patrick’s College in Jaffna and Richmond College in Galle, they strode up to claim their trophies and cricketing gear with ill-concealed glee.
The team that perhaps was happiest of all was Trinity College Kandy, which had enjoyed an outstanding season this year, sweeping the League, Limited Overs and T20 titles. This ceremony was their crowning glory as Dickwella, their leader and lynchpin, was bestowed with the grandest prize of the night.
As he was awarded the exquisite Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year trophy by last year’s winner Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Niroshan gestured to his teammates to take to the stage and share in his achievement. A fitting conclusion to a function which effectively highlighted the unadulterated joy and camaraderie that exists within school cricket. Pix by Amila Gamage and
Ranjith Perera