Rare honour for ex-winners Madugalle and Dharmasena – By DINESH WEERAWANSA Source : sundayobserver Two former Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year – Ranjan Madugalle and Kumar Dharmasena have been picked by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as match officials for today’s ICC T20 World Cup final between England and Pakistan in Melbourne. ICC Chief Match Referee Madugalle, who stepped out of school as the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in the inaugural year 1979, will function as the ICC Match Referee in the T20 World Cup final to be played at the MCG. Dharmasena, the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1989, has been picked by the ICC as one of the two on-field umpires for the 12-nation final. This is the record sixth time he is officiating in a World Cup final. He will pair off with South African Marais Erasmus for today’s match. Both Madugalle and ...

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Death of a legend and Mahanama’s rise to stardom-by BY DINESH WEERAWANSA Roshan Mahanama when he first won the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer title in 1983-Roshan Mahanama at his recent book launch Source:Sundayobserver When I was writing my weekly column on the Observer-SLT School Cricketers, there came the shocking news – the death of a sports news legend. It was saddening to learn of the death of former Deputy Editor and long-standing Sports Editor of the Sunday Observer A. C. De Silva, a well-known Thomian and former water polo referee. He was the Sports Editor of the Sunday Observer even at the time I began my journalistic career exactly 35 years on April 16, 1987. He passed away on Thursday at the age of 80. He played a leading role in the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer since its inception in1979. His remains lie at AF Raymond Funeral parlour from this evening and ...

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