Sri Lanka tour of England to go ahead on the intervention of the President

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Sri Lanka’s planned cricket tour of England next year will go ahead following the intervention of President Mahinda Rajapaksa despite the tour clashing with the second session of the high profile Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had instructed Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge to ensure that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) propose alternate dates for the tour or decline the invitation of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

However the Executive Committee of SLC yesterday decided to go ahead with the tour but with alternative dates so that Sri Lanka will be able to field their best possible team for this tour which includes two test matches, three one-day internationals and a series of three-day county games.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa issued instructions to Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge after some of the Sri Lankan players had presented him with a copy of a letter they had sent to the SLC Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga looking for a clarification on the proposed tour which is expected to take place from Aril 21 to May 20.

These dates of course clash with the second session of the Indian Premier League where a total of 13 Sri Lankan players are on contracts with the various franchises. Among them are skipper Mahela Jayawardena, vice captain Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.

The SLC are to discuss the matter with the ECB during the next couple of days with alternative dates for the tour which was made possible following the ECB’s decision to suspend bilateral ties with Zimbabwe and the cancellation of their 2009 visit.

The SLC will earn a sum of two million pounds from this proposed tour of England. Meanwhile the annual player contracts for the year 2008/2009 was also finalized yesterday cordially and the same would be signed by the relevant players by mid next week.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and the Sri Lankan Cricketers Association (SLCA) along with the national players shared and discussed several developments related to the annual fees, match payments and the player welfare aspect as well.

The SLC was keen to provide an increase for the junior players and also encourage non contract players to get into the senior ranking by the way of making higher match fees for same.

This move was very encouraging and welcomed by the SLCA and the players embracing same.

In addition the players will continue to be allowed to have media contracts and they also agreed to play a minimum of 75 per cent of the Inter Provincial tournaments.