SLC release said: ”Mr Ajit Jayasekera, CEO SLC, conducted an inquiry on the Lasith Malinga incident and in his report to the Executive Committee, recommended that Malinga be censured and advised on his behaviour when dealing with the press in the future, considering his standing in the game”.

“The executive committee accepted his recommendations and appointed committee members Camillus Abeygunawardena, Harigupta Rihanadeera, Ajit Jayasekera to speak to Lasith Malinga on this matter”.

Lasith Malinga had responded gruffly toward television journalists who waited outside SLC in two separate incidents, which occurred on Sunday night and Monday morning.

On the first occasion he denied he had come to the SLC offices for a meeting about the contracts dispute in a dismissive tone, before telling a journalist to mind his own business the following morning.

Malinga has had a strained relationship with parts of the nation’s media after he announced his retirement from Test cricket during the 2011 IPL, which came after he had made himself unavailable for the Test tour of England citing fitness problems. He has often been accused of being a mercenary by some, and has lately hit back at those claims, including in an on-air argument with a journalist on a local sports talk show.

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Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka 2013 (Dhaka Bank Series 2013) is scheduled to begin on Friday, 8th March 2013 in Sri Lanka. Bangladesh cricket team will tour Sri Lanka from 3rd to 31st March 2013. The tour will consist of two Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and a Twenty20 International (T20). The first Test begins in Galle on Friday, with the two-Test series followed by three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international.

Sri Lanka have named their strongest available squad for the first Test against Bangladesh after a dispute between 23 centrally contracted players and the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board.

Schedule: Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka 2013 Fixture

At a Selection Committee meeting held at SLC, at 3.00 pm today ,the following Players were selected by the National Selectors for the 1^st Test of the Bangladesh Tour scheduled to be held at the Galle International Cricket Stadium from the 8th to the 12th of March 2013.

SRI LANKA
TESTs	ODIs	T20
Anjelo Mathews (C) Dinesh Chandimal T.M Dilshan Dimuth Karunaratne Kumar Sangakkara Lahiru Thirimanna Shaminda Eranga Kusal Janith Jeewan Mendis Kithruwan Vithanage Ajantha Mendis Nuwan Kulasekara Chanaka Welagedara Suranga Lakmal Rangana Herath P.H.T Kaushal	TBA	TBA

Majority players of Bangladesh Test, ODI and t20 team squad are seniors. Selectors give chance to couple of youngsters but they mostly rely on previous players. The most important thing is that their players are in great form after playing a lot of domestic cricket. It will expect that they give tough time to Sri Lanka team so never miss these cricket live actions.

BANGLADESH
TESTs	ODIs	T20
Mushfiqur Rahim (C) Mahmudullah Abul Hasan Anamul Haque Elias Sunny Jahurul Islam Marshall Ayub Mohammad Ashraful Mominul Haque Nasir Hossain Robiul Islam Rubel Hossain Shahadat Hossain Sohag Gazi Tamim Iqbal	TBA	TBA

For more cricinfo: Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka 2013

The Television journalists approached Lasith Malinga for comment on the contracts dispute twice, but Malinga rebuffed them gruffly on both occasions. The incidents were filmed by a news crew, and broadcast on national television.

An official release said, ”The executive committee of Sri Lanka Cricket has directed the chief executive officer of SLC, Mr. Ajit Jayasekara, to conduct an Inquiry into the two incidents pertaining to Mr. Lasith Malinga and the media personnel, that took place outside SLC headquarters. The CEO has been requested to forward a report on the same to the executive committee”.

The first incident occurred on Sunday evening, after the players had met chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya and agreed to sign the contracts. Media rushed towards Malinga as he exited the SLC premises and repeatedly asked him in Sinhala if he had signed the contract.

While walking to his parked car, Malinga replied: “What contract? There was a party here and I came for the function. Ask the people who came here for the contract”.

Malinga was more visibly irritated the following morning, when he was approached by media upon arrival at SLC offices, presumably on his way to sign his contract. A reporter asked Malinga if he could speak with him as the fast bowler stepped out of his vehicle, to which Malinga replied in Sinhala, “Mind your own business and go away, man”. 

Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal and Ajantha Mendis had also been approached by television news crews on Sunday evening. None of the players stopped to speak to media. Sangakkara told journalists he was forbidden from commenting by SLC, and that details of the contracts issue would emerge later. Chandimal and Mendis did not comment as they left the premises.

Lasith Malinga has had a strained relationship with parts of the nation’s media after he announced his retirement from Test cricket during the 2011 IPL, which came after he had made himself unavailable for the Test tour of England citing fitness problems.

He has often been accused of being a mercenary by some, and has lately hit back at those claims, including in an on-air argument with a journalist on a local sports talk show.

At the press conference to announce Sri Lanka’s new captains in February, several questions about Malinga’s professional motivation were directed towards Jayasuriya, who defended the fast bowler’s decision to retire from Tests with help from SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and captain Angelo Mathews.

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In New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2012, New Zealand will visit Sri Lanka for a series of two Tests, five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 in October and November. The tournament begins with a one-off T20 in Pallekele on October before the teams move on to the one-day international portion of the trip. The first Test, which starts in Galle on November 17, and the second Test in Pallekele beginning on November 25. New Zealand visited Sri Lanka for Tests was in 2009, when Sri Lanka won 2-0. New Zealand have not won a Test in Sri Lanka since May 1998.

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Highlights 2012

New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2012 Sri Lanka Cricket is proud to announce to the fans of Sri Lanka Cricket that the tour of New Zealand to Sri Lanka will start on the 30th of October 2012 in Pallekelle Kandy with the T20 match. The Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 2012 bilateral series will comes to end on Nov 29, 2012.

For more information on this tour:

• New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2012 – Fixtures
• New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2012 – Squads

The India TV on Monday showed what the channel said was officials from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka negotiating deals with under-cover reporters to affect the outcome of matches.

The ICC statement said, “The International Cricket Council and its relevant full member boards have agreed not to appoint any of the umpires named in a sting operation recently conducted by India TV to any domestic or international cricket matches pending the outcome of the ongoing investigations into the allegations made”.

Calling on the respective cricket boards that employ and nominate umpires directly to conduct the investigations as a matter of “urgency”, the ICC distanced itself from the controversy stating that the umpires named are “not contracted by the ICC”.

The umpires accused of willing to fix matches in the sting “Operation World Cup” are three Sri Lankans  Sagara Gallage, Maurice Winston Zilwa and Gamini Dissanayake. Nadir Shah of Bangladesh and Nadeem Ghauri and Anis Siddiqui from Pakistan. The report alleged that a seventh umpire, Sharfudoullah Shahid Saikat of Bangladesh, refused to exchange favours for cash.

The TV channel aired footage of captured Skype chats with some of the umpires speaking to the undercover journalist’s claiming to be belonging to a sports management company.

The television website quoted Dissanayake, a Premier panel umpire of Sri Lanka, saying, “I told you we agreed. Don’t worry about it. You don’t think about it”, to the reporter’s demand of “undue favours and due favours”, to specific players in any matches. Dissanayake is also a regular fourth umpire in Test matches and ODIs against all countries. Dissanayake and Zilwa have denied the allegations.

The sting operation claims that as the fourth umpire in the India-Pakistan T20 match last month, Gallage agreed to reveal the match pitch report, weather report, toss report and the playing elevens of both teams for SLRs50,000.

He had also allegedly promised to strike Pakistani batsman Imran Nazir out, even if he was not, in exchange for money in the Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL). Gallage, who had purportedly recommended Zilwa to the India TV undercover reporter, had also agreed to make a decision in favour of India in a match by “managing” the match referee and other officials, reported India TV.

However, the ICC confirmed that none of the umpires named by the channel was involved in the World T20 event.

“The ICC confirms that none of the umpires named was involved in any of the official games of the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka”. The cricketing body also called on the TV station to hand over evidence to them for further investigations.

Despite the Sri Lankan cricket board’s initial claims that SLC’s newly appointed anti-corruption officer Lakshman de Silva would not be investigating the matter until the ICC took some action, sources confirmed that the body had already begun an inquiry into the allegations. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also confirmed on Tuesday that it has launched a full-scale inquiry while the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said it was taking the issue “very seriously”, adding that there would be an inquiry committee.

SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga to the local newspaper Daily Mirror on Tuesday, “We have the highest confidence in our officials and it is not correct to comment on allegations without a proper inquiry and facts. As far as the Sri Lanka Cricket is concerned, our tolerance level for corruption and doping is zero. When it comes to SLPL we got the ICC to look into these areas and we have not got any bad reports apart from that incident which we are all aware of”.

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Pak Player Azhar Mehmood fixed BPL semi-final

The Room to Read works to One of the early fruits of this partnership, has been the development of local language cricket books to promote literacy, the first of which features local star Angelo Mathews.

The book titled, Little Angelo’s Big Day in Cricket, is available in both Sinhalese and Tamil and will be distributed to youngsters throughout Sri Lanka as part of the ICC World Twenty 20’s commitment to the local community.

In India, Virat Kohli has taken a stand as the brand ambassador for Room to Read and stars in a children’s book titled Virat’s Inning. The book will be published in Hindi and Telugu with the vision to inculcate the love of reading amongst the next generation of learners.

Room to Read’s ambition to promote literacy and girls’ education has resonated with many of cricket’s leading players and they have now been involved in awareness-raising activities during the tournament. Room to Read beneficiaries from the Dharmaloka Kanishta Vidyalaya in the Monaragala district were treated to a hands-on coaching session by Sri Lankan cricket team players such as Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga and Sangakara. This was group of 10 boys who are a part of the school cricket team and were chosen to participate in this unique interaction that involved batting, bowling and fielding practice.

Sri Lanka Players With Children’s Pictures:

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The 2012 Sri Lankan T20 Premier League will include seven teams in total representing the provinces of Sri Lanka, with two new Sri Lanka Cricket announced the names of seven team along with their Logos for the first ever SLPL tournament begins in August 10.

The first edition of SLPL Twenty20 will feature 7 Provincial teams which will adhere to a compulsory ruling of no more than 6 overseas players in each squad. However, it will be mandatory for each team to field only 4 overseas players in the playing eleven, whilst the remaining 7 players will all be Sri Lankans, with one player out of the said seven players will be an under-21 cricketer. SLC shall, through this tournament, increase the number of Provincial teams from the existing number of 5 teams to 7 teams, in order to provide more opportunities to a vast number of talented players who are striving to advance to the next level of their cricketing abilities. Each Provincial team shall draw elements of its unique branding/personality from the Province it represents.

Check here for schedule: Sri Lanka Premier League 2012 – Fixtures

The names of  Teams, Captains, Squads and the Logos of SLPL T20 2012 are given below.

Uthura:

(Foreign players): Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe), Kevon Cooper (West Indies), Imran Farhat (Pakistan), Fidel Edwards (West Indies), David Miller (South Africa), Dillon du Preez (South Africa), Samuel Badree (West Indies)

(Local players): Chamara Kapugedara, Jehan Mubarak, Farveez Maharoof, Janak Gunaratne, Nilanka Premaratne, Mahela Udawatte, Chathura Peiris, Akalanka Ganegama, Roshen Silva, PHD Kaushalya, Sandun Weerakkody, Madra Lakmal, Sohan Boralessa, Yohan de Silva, Madushanka Ekanayake, Muttiah Muralitharan

Nagenahira:

(SLPL Foreign players): Mitchell Marsh (Australia), Imran Nazir (Pakistan), Travis Birt (Australia), Ahmed Shehzad (Pakistan), Ben Laughlin (Australia), Elias Sunny (Bangladesh), Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh), Nasir Hossain (Bangladesh)

(SLPL Local players): Nuwan Kulasekara, Angelo Perera, Ajantha Mendis, TM Sampath, Sachith Pathirana, Suraj Randiv, Gayan Maneeshan, Chammera Dushmantha, Shaminda Eranga, Udara Jayasundera, Kanishka Alvitigala, Sajeewa Weerakoon, Andy Solomons, Ishan Jayaratne, Charith Sylvester, Angelo Mathews

Ruhuna:

(Foreign players): Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Daniel Harris (Australia), Ryan Harris (Australia), Aaron Finch (Australia), Jerome Taylor (West Indies), Nathan McCullum (New Zealand), Ryan McLaren (South Africa), Richard Levi (South Africa)

(Local players): Lahiru Thirimanne, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene, Dilruwan Perera, Ramith Rambukwella, Tharanga Lakshitha, Gihan Rupesinghe, Shaluka Karunanayake, Denuwan Rajakaruna, Malinga Bandara, Kasun Madushanka, Dananja de Silva, Shanuka Dissanayake, Gayan Wijekoon, Chaminda Vidanapathirana, Lasith Malinga

Wayamba:

(Foreign players): Azhar Mahmood (England), Umar Akmal (Pakistan), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Colin Ingram (South Africa), Kemar Roach (West Indies), James Faulkner (Australia), Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan), Brad Hogg (Australia)

(Local players): Dinesh Chandimal, Isuru Udana, Kushal Janith Perera, Akhila Dhananjaya, Kaushal Weeraratne, Shehan Jayasuriya, Suranga Lakmal, Milinda Siriwardana, Chathuraga Kumara, Nimesh Perera, Chaminda Vaas, Alankara Asanka, Dashun Shanaka, Malinga Pushpakumara, Dilesh Gunaratne, Mahela Jaywardene

Kandurata:

(Foreign players): Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan), Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan), Sohail Tanvir (Pakistan), Chris Lynn (Australia), Dane Vilas (South Africa), Albie Morkel (South Africa), Johan Botha (South Africa), Adam Voges (Australia)

(Local players): Thisara Perera, Thilan Samaraweera, Kosala Kulasekara, Kithruwan Vithanage, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Jeevantha Kulatunga, Malinda Warnapura, Chanaka Welegedara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Tharanga Paranavitana, Romesh Buddika, Chintaka Perera, Kaushal Silva, Niroshan Dikwalla, Kumar Sangakkara

Basnahira:

(Foreign players): Brad Hodge (Australia), Marlon Samuels (West Indies), Daniel Smith (Australia), Dirk Nannes (Australia), Robin Peterson (South Africa), Tim Southee (New Zealand), Clint McKay (Australia), Cameron Borgas (Australia)

(Local players): Jeevan Mendis, Rangana Herath, Indika de Saram, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhammika Prasad, Lahiru Jayaratne, Rushan Jaleel, Sachitra Serasinghe, Nuwan Pradeep, Dimuth Karunaratne, Amal Athulamudali, Sanjaya Gangodawila, Nadeehra Nawala, Thilan Tushara, Ishara Amerasinghe, Tillakaratne Dilshan

Uva:

(SLPL Foreign players): Andrew McDonald (Australia), Umar Gul (Pakistan), Shoaib Malik (Pakistan), Callum Ferguson (Australia), James Franklin (New Zealand), Abdur Rehman (Pakistan), Hammad Azam (Pakistan), Chris Gayle (West Indies)

(SLPL Local players): Sachithra Senanayake, Thilina Kandamby, Upul Tharanga, Dilshan Munaweera, Dilhara Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chintaka Jayasinghe, Sameera Zoysa, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ashan Priyanjana, Vishva Fernando, Lahiru Madhushanka, Akila Ishanka, Dinesh Darshapriya, Saliya Saman, Ashen Silva

Icon Players:

Basnahira – Tillakaratne Dilshan

Kandurata – Kumar Sangakkara

Nagenahira –  Angelo Mathews

Ruhuna – Lasith Malinga

Uthura – Muttiah Muralitharan

Uva – Chris Gayle

Wayamba – Mahela Jayawardene

SLPL Player Draft 2012

For more cricinfo: Sri Lanka Premier League 2012

SLPL T20 2012 | Sri Lanka Premier League 2012 season will be the debut edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League, established by Sri Lanka Cricket in 2011. The season will run from 10 August to 31 August 2012.

The tournament has a group stage and a knockout stage. The seven teams play a single round-robin tournament in the group stage and the top four teams qualify for the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals play the final. All of the matches in the tournament will be played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy and R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

The first edition of SLPL Twenty20 will feature 7 Provincial teams which will adhere to a compulsory ruling of no more than 6 overseas players in each squad. However, it will be mandatory for each team to field only 4 overseas players in the playing eleven, whilst the remaining 7 players will all be Sri Lankans, with one player out of the said seven players will be an under-21 cricketer.

Check here for Squads: Sri Lanka Premier League 2012 – Teams & Logos

The following is the schedule of SLPL T20 2012:

For more cricinfo: Sri Lanka Premier League 2012

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is proud to announce the birth of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 tournament commencing from August 10 to August 31, 2012 (both dates inclusive) at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy.

Twenty20’s massive popularity and status as the most exciting and entertaining format of cricket will be further enhanced by this newest tournament to the world of cricket. The tournament will be held in line with the MCC “SPIRIT OF CRICKET” guidelines.International players will be playing in the SLPL alongside Sri Lankan national cricketers and young Lankan hopefuls.

Sri Lanka Premier League 2012 – Highlights

The tournament has a group stage and a knockout stage. The seven teams play a single round-robin tournament in the group stage and the top four teams qualify for the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals play the final.

The long awaited Sri Lanka Cricket’s Premier League tournament will finally be called play on August 10 and the cricketing carnival will end on August 31 with the finals. Stay with us for more updates.

Sri Lanka Premier League 2012 – SLPL Official Theme Song

Check here for cricinfo of Schedule & Squads:

• Sri Lanka Premier League 2012 – Teams & Logos
• Sri Lanka Premier League 2012 – Fixtures

SLPL T20 2012 | Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) is the premier Twenty20 cricket competition in Sri Lanka held by Sri Lanka Cricket. Its first season is to be held in 2012 and has replaced the Inter-Provincial Twenty20. The official launch of the theme song for the Sri Lanka Premier League 2012 collaborating artists and musicians from the partnering countries.

Here is the offical theme song of SLPL T20 different versions.

SLPL Theme Song International Version

SLPL T20 2012 Official Theme Song (Local Version)

SLPL T20 2012 Official Launch of the Theme Song

For more cricinfo: Sri Lanka Premier League 2012

The India tour of Sri Lanka 2012 will begin from 21st July, 2012 in Sri Lanka. As announced, the Micromax Cup is an international bilateral series and will carry out 5 exciting One Day International matches and one T20 match which will be hosted by Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Cricket has revised India’s tour of Sri Lanka starting next month with the first one-dayer now scheduled for July 21. The five-match one-day series, followed by a Twenty20, was originally due to start on July 22, but was amended to include reserve days in case of weather interruptions.

Check here for Squads: India tour of Sri Lanka 2012 – Squads

For More Cricinfo: India tour of Sri Lanka 2012

India vs Sri Lanka 2012 – Highlights

Despite being the finalists of last World Cup, both these teams failed to reach the finals of recently concluded edition of Asia Cup. World Cup-winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni believes India’s limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka will help his team prepare for the World Twenty20 in the same country in September-October.

Check here for Fixtures: India tour of Sri Lanka 2012 – Fixtures

Check here for Squads: India tour of Sri Lanka 2012 – Squads

Yuvraj Singh, who has started training was named in India’s 30-member list of probables for the September-October World Twenty20 Championships in Sri Lanka.

Harbhajan Singh who has been on the sidelines for a quite some time due to poor form, has also been included in the squad.A few youngsters such as Mandeep Singh, Naman Ojha and Ambati Rayudu were picked in the list announced by the BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale. Paceman Laxmipathy Balaji, who last played an international match in 2009, was also part of the provisional list which will be pruned to a 15-member squad at a later stage.

Yuvraj Singh, who started practicing in Bangalore National Cricket Academy after undergoing chemotherapy in the United States earlier this year, Yuvi was return to international cricket with the World T20 Championships.

Yuvraj Singh is best remembered for his astonishing six sixes off one Stuart Broad over at the 2007 edition of the mega-event. Yuvraj Singh was expected to make the cut at least in the preliminary list given that the selectors were themselves keen on having the flamboyant left-hander back in the squad.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth chief selector said, that ”I think a guy who has won the World Cup for us deserves to come back”.

The rest of the players who have been in and out of the team on a rotational basis.

Youngsters in the line-up include batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who would be filling up for Sachin Tendulkar in the upcoming tour of Sri lanka. Shikhar Dhawan, who endured an indifferent tour of the West Indies with the India A squad, has also been included.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) effect was there to be seen in the squad with the selectors including 20-year-old all-rounder Mandeep Singh in the squad.

The Kings XI Punjab player, who is a former under-19 captain, has been rewarded for his fine performance for Kings XI in the IPL.

Rayudu has also got in on the merit of his consistent IPL performances for Mumbai Indians. Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan have been included.

World Twenty20 Championships Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, R. Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Mandeep Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Naman Ojha, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, L Balaji.

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Who will join five other Sri Lanka players as icons of their respective teams, lends the fledgling league some star power and has the potential.

Chris Gayle, who is set to play New Zealand in five One Day Internationals and two Tests at home in a series that ends August 6, will represent the Uva province, while Shahid Afridi will play for Nagenahira.

Last week Sri Lanka Cricket auctioned the seven Sri Lanka Premier League teams for an average price of $4.3 million. A number of Indian companies are believed to have successfully bid for teams in the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), highlighting the lure of the franchise model in cricket’s largest market despite the BCCI’s reluctance to allow Indian players to participate.

Among the companies are the Wadhawan Group, a business conglomerate with interests in real estate, retail and education, India Cricket Dundee, an Indian fan organisation along the lines of the Barmy Army, and the Delhi-based Rudra Group, which also has interests in real estate.

A player draft will be conducted on July 5 and 6, with a lottery held to determine the order in which players are picked. Sri Lanka Cricet will determine the value of the contract for each player in advance and the franchises will be made aware of the cost of the player.

The players will be drafted in two groups, the first consisting of players from Sri Lanka and the second, the foreign players. The draft is being seen as the best way to ensure that players are evenly distributed among the teams, making it a level playing field.

The Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) will run for three weeks, with the final to be held on August 31. There will be 24 games in total, split between Colombo and Pallekele. Teams will be allowed a maximum of 18 players, out of which six can be foreign players. Teams will be allowed play a maximum of four foreign players per game. Out of the remaining seven players in the XI, one must be a Sri Lanka Under-21 international.

More On SLPL:

• Sri Lanka Premier League Franchises Fetch average of $4.3 million
• Sri Lanka Premier League follow franchise model
• Sri Lanka invite Sri Lanka Premier League Franchise Bids

SLCB invited Franchise bids to sponsor the seven teams in their Indian Premier League-style Twenty20 Premier League amid continued refusal by their Indian counterparts to send their players which forced the postponement of the event last year.

Sri Lanka Cricket Board are offering private individuals or corporate bodies the opportunity to be a part of the “world’s newest and most exciting Twenty20 league”.

They plan to lease out all the teams for seven years for the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) tournament which begins in August.

The franchise bids are invited until June 25 and an individual or corporate body will be allowed to bid for three teams but win only one.

Sri Lanka Premier League, which was scheduled to be held in 2011, was postponed following the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refusing to allow Indian cricketers to participate.

Sri Lanka Cricket is facing heavy judgment for giving the little-known Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment Ventures, which the Board of Control for Cricket in India has accused of having links with former Indian Premier League (IPL) head Lalit Modi, rights to organise the event for 15 years.

The BCCI has once again ‘rejected’ Sri Lanka Cricket’s appeal to release the Indian players but Sri Lanka Cricket says it has not received any official confirmation.

Nishantha Ranatunga, Sri Lanka Cricket secretary said, “We sent invitations to all the full member countries asking them to release their players for the SLPL. Several have responded favourably but not India so far”.

“Even if Indian players fail to turn up this time we will go ahead with the event”.

More On Sri Lanka:

• Sri Lanka to ban Cricketer Lasith Malinga 
• Sri Lanka Premier League follow franchise model 
• Lasith Malinga in Sri Lankan central contract lis

PCB is set to discuss the scheduling problems, with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), which resulted after the dates for the planned Sri Lankan Premier League were announced. The dates for the Sri Lanka Premier League are clashing with the scheduled Pakistan-Australia series in Sri Lanka in August. 

The Pakistan Cricket Board member says, “It is a difficult situation for us because obviously the commercial aspects of our series are going to be hurt if dates clash with the Sri Lankan Premier League”.

“It is already difficult for us to make our home series profitable as after all we have to organise them at neutral venues and not at home”.

Pakistan Cricket Board official said, while grounds were not a problem in Sri Lanka, if two major events were organised in one country at the same time, viewership and commercial interests would be affected for both parties.

According to the Sri Lankan board, it will be holding its premier league T20 event from August 10 to 31.

More On Pakistan:

• Pakistan vs Sri Lanka series 2012 T20, ODI and Test Team Players Squad List
• Pakistan: Misbah-Ul-Haq steps down as T20 captain 
• Pakistan Cricket Board: Danish Kaneria not entitled to play for Pakistan 

The offer was made by the English Cricket Board (ECB) when Arjun Ranatunga was the head of SLC, for Sri Lanka to play a Test series in England, but the dates were clashing with the 2009 edition of the IPL. Ranatunga’s request for the players to return early from the IPL was staunchly resisted by the players.

As there was no softening of the stance by Arjun Ranatunga, the BCCI summoned a Sri Lankan delegation to come over to Bangkok for talks. During the meeting held in Bangkok in October 2008, the BCCI was represented by sacked IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, current President N Srinivasan and the then secretary Niranjan Shah.

That the newspaper claimed that the SLC delegation was warned of dire consequences unless they toed the BCCI line.

“The meeting that lasted for approximately two hours ended with the BCCI adopting a very aggressive stance, stating that the forthcoming Indian tours that have been indicated in the FTP up to 2012, stand unconfirmed at present and stated that they are not ready for any negotiations or to compromise with SLC, as long as SLC’s present hostile approach”.

“Mr Modi, together with Mr Srinivasan were very puzzled and shocked at the attitude of SLC towards the BCCI. The BCCI representatives had said that they had never had to contend with such an attitude with any committees which were previously handling the affairs of SLC and in particular, were very surprised and concerned about the comments made by Chairman, Arjuna Ranatunga, at different forums”.

Within a few days of the meeting, Ranatunga was removed as head of SLC by the Minister of Sports.

More On IPL 5 2012:

• IPL5 Match 36 – Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians Highlights – 27 April 2012
• IPL5 Match 36 – Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians Scorecard – 27 April 2012

Malinga last played for the Mumbai Indians against the Rajasthan Royals on April 11 and missed the match against Delhi Daredevils on April 16.

Malinga will undergo treatment from Sri Lanka Cricket physio Ajantha Wattegama during the coming weeks.

Charlie Austin agent said, Malinga refused to sign the contract because he is not impressed with the figure offered to him by Sri Lanka Cricket. And offered him 100,000 US$ for the year. But as Malinga is playing only Limited Overs Cricket and T-20 he was only eligible to 40% of the amount and the player was not interested in getting bound by a contract for that sum. Malinga makes approximately 1.1 million dollars turning out for the Mumbai Indian in the IPL.

The rest of the players T20 in number have signed their annual central player contracts with Sri Lanka Cricket. Altogether SLC has signed 92 cricket contracts which include ‘A’ team and Provincial cricketers. The 2011/12 contracts were singed in August-September 2011 after the previous contracts had expired in February last year.

The 2011/12 player contracts will end on March 31 2012. the 2012/13 player contracts are under negotiations at present and it is very unlikely that Malinga would agree to sign this contract either.
SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga commenting on the players’ injury said, “Though he has no central contract, it is the SLC’s duty to look after the national players”. According to the SLC Secretary Malinga only signs tour contracts.

More On Malinga:

• Mumbai Indians: lasith Malinga back injury return to Sri Lanka
• Satire: Lasith Malinga unknowingly drawn into “Porngate” scandal!

The teams will play two Twenty20 games on August 6 and 8 at the newly-built Pallakelle International Stadium in the central town of Kandy, which will also host the opening one-dayer and the second test match.

All-rounder Angelo Mathews got the vice-captain job, after being overlooked for the post during the recent tour of England.

Selectors also named uncapped right-arm bowler Shaminda Eranga and all-rounder Dilruwan Perera.

CRICKET NEWS: SL name T20 squad for Aus series

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The inaugural edition of the Sri Lankan Premier League has been postponed to August 2012. The League was in the news and courted controversy when Indian players were denied permission by the BCCI to participate in the competition.

The Sri Lanka Premier League 2011 (SLPL) will be the first edition of the new official Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have confirmed the dates for the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League will be from July 19 to August 4, 2011.The seven provinces will play 24 matches over the 18 days, all of which will be telecast live globally. That suggests a format in which all the teams will play each other once in a league stage, before two semi-finals and a final.

SLC also unveiled the team names for the provinces. The seven teams will be:

1. Basnahira Bears
2. Kandurata Kites
3. Nagenahira Nagas
4. Ruhuna Rhinos
5. Uthura Oryxes
6. Uva Unicorns &
7. Wayamba Wolves

The board plans to add two more provinces to the tournament within three years.The teams will be captained by six national captains and a former Sri Lanka vice-captain. The tournament will feature over 30 international cricketers and will be the first of its kind in Sri Lanka.

Each team will only be allowed five overseas players in their squad, of which only four can be named in the XI. Several foreign players including Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs have already been signed for the tournament.More recent developments suggest that the tournament has been compounded with problems due to allegations of corruption and incompetence by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). It was revealed that India will not be sending its players. BCCI has decided to not to send Indian Players in SLPL because they are saying it is not an official League, instead it is a private league.

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