Cricket website wins multiple awards at Sri Lanka web awards

Cricket website wins multiple awards at Sri Lanka web awards

The popular Sri Lankan cricket website Island Cricket (www.islandcricket.lk) was the recipient of multiple awards at the BestWeb 2013 Sri Lanka web awards, which took place at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo on August 14.

The website was adjudged the 'Best Sports and Entertainment Website' in Sri Lanka and also won the Bronze Award for 'Best Sri Lankan Website'.

Many prominent Sri Lankan websites representing Sri Lanka's print and electronic media, popular retail brands, corporate entities and state institutions were nominated for awards in a number of categories this year.

“As a community-driven website that relies on fan-submitted content, every award Island Cricket wins is thanks largely to Sri Lanka cricket fans around the globe who submit great content,” Island Cricket’s founder and editor Hilal Suhaib said.

“The website empowers fans and allows members of the public to submit Sri Lanka cricket content such as articles and photos, so this is very much a victory for Sri Lanka cricket fans who help run the site.”

Suhaib said the purpose for launching the site in 2008 was to “fill a void” at a time when Sri Lanka cricket had very little representation on the internet.

“There was very little content on the net for Sri Lanka cricket fans before Island Cricket. As an ardent fan myself, I began developing the site, learning along the way through trial and error, and focused on utilising fan-generated media as the foundation of the site,” Suhaib explained.

“As a fan of the Sri Lankan team and the players, I was in a great position to identify what would appeal to fans, and armed with that knowledge and my experience in web development, broadcast and media I was able to develop a website that appeals to cricket fans of all ages.

“Hopefully, we have filled the void that once existed, and future generations of Sri Lanka cricket fans have a wealth of content to enjoy. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported and helped Island Cricket and helped us win these awards”

Since 2010, Island Cricket has won consecutive awards at Sri Lanka's only web awards, which highlights both the website's appeal and its ability to deliver engaging content consistently over a number of years.

An esteemed panel of judges, all experts in the field of information technology and web development, picked through hundreds of nominees to select websites with professional

design architecture, great content and popularity (determined by the number of users visiting the website).

The BestWeb Awards is organised by the LK Domain Registry, the official authority responsible for the Internet country code top-level domain for Sri Lanka. The LK Domain Registry was established in 1990 and is housed at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Moratuwa.