SLPL to promote young talent

Dilanka MANNAKKARA

Sri Lanka Captain Mahela Jayawardene said that when he first played for Sri Lanka, he never had big opportunities like the ones that young players have nowadays. He said so at the official launch of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) at Cinnamon Grand Hotel, in front of a host of media personnel, cricketers and well wishers last evening.

“Three under 21 players have to be there in each SLPL squad while one player must be included in the final XI. So this is a great initiative taken towards the benefit of the young players. It is a fantastic opportunity for youngsters to play among greats of the game and share their experiences”, added Jayawardene.

“This is a great opportunity to promote Sri Lankan players and uplift Sri Lankan cricket while upholding the MCC spirit of cricket” said former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara.

Sangakkara also said that although a lot of foreign stars will feature in the tournament, Sri Lankan cricket will take center stage.” Hopefully SLPL will be a stepping stone for a feast of talented cricketers thus create healthy competition among them in order to have a top notched pool to choose from”.

Sri Lanka Cricket Chairman Upali Dharmadasa said that SLC hopes to add two more franchises in the following years to the SLPL, making it nine provinces for nine teams. “For over 30 years we had players coming from about four provinces out of nine provinces in Sri Lanka, but in the future SLPL will provide the opportunity for youngsters from all the provinces to get into the national scheme and for the fans, to support them” said Dharmadasa.

The official website of the SLPL was also launched to the beats of the “Papare bands” and the grooves of the glamorous cheer girls along with the official mascot of the SLPL, the Mighty Lion. The official theme song of SLPL and the official logo was unveiled at the gala event as well.