St. Peter’s College all-rounder Sachin Silva will be one of the stars to pick up his trophy at the Sunday Observer Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Awards ceremony which will be held on Tuesday July 3 at the Hilton Hotel in Colombo.
Silva may not be able to boast of anything stunningly spectacular or scientific on the field of play but he polled nearly 40,000 votes and was a clear winner when the voting ended last week for the Sunday Observer Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest.
As a bowling all-rounder Silva finished the season with 75 wickets through his off-spinners and hammered more than 400 runs as his team posted five outright wins.
His best figures came against Richmond College when he plucked seven wickets for 17 runs and made a top score of 80 not out against Wesley College in another match.
Silva was one of the players who had climbed the ranks at St. Peter’s College first as an Under-13 player before graduating to the big league and coming under the coaching of former Sri Lanka opening batsman and former school captain Malinda Warnapura.
In an interview with the Sunday Observer, Silva said he had good encouragement from all his friends and team-mates while the College rector Fr. Trevor Martin wanted him to be a role model for others.
“It’s a great feeling when you have won something and I am very happy to be voted the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer by the people. I owe it to all those who supported me”, said a modest Silva.