Brothers Sanithu and Santhul earn spotlight at Sanath Jayasuriya Cricket Academy Awards
Brothers Sanithu and Santhul Wijeyarathne were presented special awards at the inaugural awards ceremony of the Sanath Jayasuriya Cricket Academy held recently, for their talented and consistent all-round performances throughout the season.
The young Wijeyarathne brothers distinguished themselves by winning five awards between them at the gala ceremony in the presence of a large gathering of distinguished guests, coaches, players and parents. The awards were presented by Sri Lanka’s World Cup winning cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who was the chief guest at the ceremony. Awards were presented to a large number of talented young players of the academy for the year 2017/18 under four age group categories.
All-rounder Santhul, who is just nine years old, but competed with players older to him in the Under- 11 age group, won several awards including Cricketer of the Year runner-up, Best Batsman of the Year, Best Bowler of the Year runners-up ’ and the special award that he received for distinguishing himself by becoming the youngest player to smash a century for the Sanath Jayasuriya Cricket Academy and his superb performance versus a visiting team from Qatar.
His brother Sanithu was presented academy colours and a special award for his excellent performance that enabled the Sanath Jayasuriya Cricket Academy to win the Inter- Academy Tournament organised by the KYCA. The brothers are both students of Nalanda College, Colombo.
A special aspect of the ceremony was Sanath Jayasuriya’s son Ranuk Jayasuriya, a left hander like his father, winning the Emerging Cricketer of the Year award in the Under- 13 category. Helika Fernando, Rahul Hettiarachchi and Tharin Weerasinghe won the titles of Emerging Cricketer of the Year in the other age groups. Dimath Gale received three awards in the Under-11 age category.
The titles of Player of the Year were won by Sandul Abayawardena, Rachintha de Silva, Dilana Damsara and Duvindu Silva in the Under-9, 11, 13, and 15 categories respectively.