It was Kamindu Mendis’ show -- a day to remember
Afitting tribute to Kamindu Mendis of Richmond College Galle was attributed last Wednesday at the BMICH, when he was crowned the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018. Kamindu, a versatile allrounder and a striking top-order batsman, won two awards in the All-Island Schools category, Best Batsman and Best Allrounder on the way, while his credentials at international level proved a lot.
Kamindu led the Sri Lanka Under-19s at the ICC Youth World Cup 2018 and his constant allround form event earned him a slot among the Playing XI of Team Colombo in the recently concluded SLC Super 4 Provincial One Day Tournament.
Next to Kamindu was Savindu Peiris of Prince of Wales College who emerged the Dialog 4G- the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018 runner-up. Savindu also claimed the Best Allrounder and Best Bowler runner-up awards on the way.
Breaking new grounds the Sunday Times and Dialog Axiata also initiated a new category for Girls’ Schools besides the top two -- the All- Island Schools and Emerging Schools.
K av i s h a Dilhari of Devapathiraja Maha Vidyalaya, Rathgama will go down in history as the first ever schoolgirl cricketer to win an award, that of for the Most Promising Player from the girls’ tournament. Devapathiraja MV claimed the award for the Best Team while Anula Vidyalaya Nugegoda emerged runners-up at the introduction of this new set of awards.
Raveen Yasas of Devapathiraja College, Rathgama won the Dialog 4G- the Sunday Times Emerging Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018 award, which is the pinnacle prize for young cricketers from the Emerging Schools category. He was the most outstanding out of the lot among schools of Division II and III and Raveen also claimed the award for the Best Batsman. Randeera Ranasinghe of St. Anne’s College Kurunegala won two runner-up awards in Best Batsman and Best Allrounder and went on to become the runner-up to Raveen in the top award.
This year the organisers also introduced a new set of awards in addition to the Girls’ Category and the Special Recognition of the Sri Lanka Under-19 team that participated in the ICC World Cup 2018. St. Joseph’s College allrounder Revan Kelly was the recipient of two awards that were given away under Dialog 4G Fastest to 1000 Runs and Dialog 4G Fastest 50 in Limited Overs for the season. The Dialog 4G Fastest 100 in Limited Overs was won by Hasitha Boyagoda of Trinity College, who also claimed the Most Promising Player award in the ICC Youth World Cup 2018.
Overall, the event was a hit, enjoyed by all who attended despite of the age and gender difference as it peaked to the point where Kamindu Mendis was crowned the Prince of School Cricket for 2018 by the Chief Guest, Graeme Labrooy, Harsha Samaranayake - General Manager, Brand and Media, Dialog Axiata PLC, Lal Jayawardene - Director, Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., Thisara Kasthuriarachchi - General Manager, Mobile Broadband and Pre-Paid Mobile Business, Dialog Axiata PLC, Udesh Gunatunga - Executive Director, Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., Dilshan De Silva - General Secretary, Sri Lanka Sch o o l s C r i cke t Association and S.R. Pathiravithana - Deputy Editor, Sports, the Sunday Times.
Soon after that delightful moment the entire crowd -schoolboys and girls, school officials and even parents -- applauded and cheered Kamindu continuously and went on to dance to the tunes of the backing band who kept all on their dancing feet. Prior to that many schoolboy cricketers had received their respective awards from the fleet of presenters representing Dialog Axiata, Wi j e ya Newspapers, the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association and top cricket personalities.
The day’s proceedings kicked off soon after the invitees were welcomed to the main hall of the BMICH by Harsha Samaranayake, the General Manager, Brand and Media of Dialog Axiata, an the welcome speech by the Chairman of the Schoolboy Cricketer 2018 Selection Panel, Jayantha Seneviratne. But what gained the attention was the more stirring and thought provoking speech by the Chief Guest, Graeme Labrooy, who spoke the responsibilities of mentors and parents in nurturing a complete cricketer.
Then it came to the point of giving away the awards. Anxious youngsters, who were keeping their fingers crossed until their names were called by the MCs, veteran Faizal Bongso and Umayangana Wickramasinghe, kept all their reticence away to walk on to the stage and reveal that they could easily become household names in cricket in time to come.
There were many top performers who took the spotlight that evening and even the Most Popular Cricketer of the Year 2018 awards, which the AllIsland Schools was claimed by Vihan Gunasekara of D. S. Senanayake College. Denuwan Perera of Carey College was the Most Popular Emerging Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2018 and in the first run itself Harshitha Madhavi of Anula Vidyalaya, another national prospect for the Sri Lanka Women’s team, claimed the inaugural Most Popular Schoolgirl Cricketer of the Year 2018 with a staggering tally.
One of the main highlights was S. Thomas’ College winning the award for the Best All-Island Team, an achievement they gained after three decades. Richmond College also claimed two team awards in addition to producing their best elk, Kamindu.
From the start to the end, schoolboy cricketers from all parts of Sri Lanka converged, to spend some hours together, taking honours for their hard efforts on the field, having a lighter time dancing away the night, and sharing each second with great joy and camaraderie in the name of the game they love – cricket. Extra activities were galore outside with photo booths and other social media activities initiated by Dialog Axiata.
Entertainment was provided by the band Line 01, Nadeemal Perera and Kavindya Adikari. The youthful and electric dance acts were provided by the Island Stompers Dance Troupe. All these kept the momentum of the show going on even if it had to end one way or another, with hopes of another memorable show in the coming year, possibly with a much better atmosphere. (Pix by Amila Gamage, Priyantha Wickramaarachchi and Sameera Weerasekara)