New Cricket contracts by end September
View(s):By S.R. Pathiravithana
Upon the maiden three-nil series victory over the Australians, the Lankan cricketers will sign their contracts before the end of this month. Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Executive Officer Ashley de Silva told the Sunday Times; “We have handed over the drafts to the cricketers and in all probabilities we should be able to finish signing the contracts before the end of the month. Our cricketers will be leaving for Zimbabwe by mid October and all the nitty-gritties should be completed and out of the way by the end of September”
The SLC CEO also said they were hoping to sign in around 35-36 players in two segments — National Contracts and ‘A’ team contracts. However, he declined to explain how it would be broken up.
A slight delay, but now the contracts are streamlined - Pic by Amila Gamage
It s learned that there would be twenty national contracts and the rest would be in the ‘A’ team. It is also said that besides the normal contacts, there would be an incentive scheme based on performance.
The likely twenty names up for signature are – Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Kusal Janith Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Thisara Perera, Dhanushka Gunatilleke, Dushmantha Chameera, Milinda Siriwardena, Upul Tharanga, Sachith Pathirana, Sachithra Senanayake, Amila Aponso, Lakshan Sandakan and Chamara Kapugedera. However it is also said that the final list could differ as there are some other experienced hands like Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne in the equation.
Generally the contracts come in three segments – A, B and C. The normal practice is that the contracts are yearly contracts and they run from March to April the following year. But the Sri Lanka cricketers who played the Australian series had signed only a tour contact.
Following the Zimbabwe series the Lankan cricketers would mostly away against South Africa, Australia and take part in the Champions Trophy in England by June next year.
The decision to shift the signing of contracts to September was taken based on a recommendation of SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala. He was interested in a more practical approach. This is because all ICC World Cups are to be held in July. It is said that he had pointed out that September-July contracts were more practical in the long term.
Meanwhile Ten Sports where SLC has signed its International TV broadcasting agreement has closed on a $385 million acquisition with deal Sony Pictures Networks which is a major cricket broadcaster in Asia.
Sony Corp-owned SPN holds broadcast rights for the annual cash-rich Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament while also having the rights for the domestic leagues in South Africa and the West Indies.
TEN sports will now add all three formats of international cricket to the network with the broadcast rights of boards in South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. It is understood that SLC chief Sumathipala is not happy with the existing deal with Ten Sports and he feels that Sri Lanka has undersold TV deal.
An insider told the Sunday Times that SLC is keen have a re-look at the deal. However the SLC-Ten Sports deal was signed in 2013 under the Jayantha Dharmadasa administration and it is up renewal only 2020.