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Selectors, SLC to stick to their guns
By Marlon Fernandopulle
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Administrators and the National Selectors will stick to their guns and will not make any changes to the players contracts that were finalized a few months back despite reports of senior cricketer Russell Arnold unsatisfied with his contract and is refusing to accept it.

SLC contracted eleven senior players initially and for the very first time followed it up by adding another second string of thirteen, comprising of mainly players in the Sri Lanka A team. Russell Arnold who has played over 40 tests and 100 one dayers was omitted from the original eleven contracted but was drafted into the thirteen. Arnold is reported to have expressed dissatisfaction that he was offered a relatively lower contract fee compared to some of his senior colleagues. It was reported that Russell Arnold was offered an annual contract for US $2000 while six senior players among the eleven players contracted were signed up for US $ 60,000.

A top official of SLC speaking to The Sunday Times confirmed that Russell Arnold was not offered a higher contract fee as the player was not in the reckoning at the time the contracts were finalized. “Arnold was not even in the Sri Lanka squad of 15 when the contracts were finalized in May. He was only a member of the A team. So, how could he be considered for anything more? In fact if we were to contract only the usual number of players, which is nine or ten, Russell would not have got any contract. But since we decided to add a few more players to the list Russell also earned a contract.” The official further stated that SLC would not be changing contracts just because an individual is not happy with it. “It becomes a joke if you start changing contracts midway. All what is required is for the player to perform and that will eventually earn him a better contract the following year”.

“It’s the selection committee that finalizes the contracts for players”, Chairman of selectors Lalith Kaluperuma also justified Russell Arnold’s contract saying the player had not performed well during the last year. “The contracts are based purely on your performance in the previous year. Russell did not perform well last year and that’s why he was omitted. We had a criteria to guide us and we stuck to that. In fact when we were finalizing the contracts Russell was only in the A team”. However Kaluperuma re-iterated that if Russell performs well this year he could be in the reckoning for a better contract next year.

The former Sri Lankan off spinner insisted that performance is a key and players are judged on the basis of their performance. He cited the inclusion of Rangana Herath and Lasith Malinga as an example and also opined that Nuwan Zoysa who was prone to injury was not even considered for the second string of thirteen players who were contracted. Kaluperuma also sounded a warning saying “The fact that a player has played X number of tests and Y number of one dayers for his country does not mean that he qualifies for a players contract”.

The Chief Executive Officer of SLC Duleep Mendis confirmed to the Sunday Times that Russell Arnold had not signed the contract as at Friday evening. According to Mendis the Players have been asked to sign the contracts before the 15th of September.

Pallekele Stadium
Meanwhile Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed that they would continue with the building of the Pallakelle Stadium in Kandy. The work of the Stadium, which was started, some time back is reported to be at a standstill despite a few building structures and the center wickets being already put up. SLC secretary Tryphon Mirando speaking to the Sunday Times said, “We are definitely going ahead with the project. We have not had a look at it, but we believe that the center wickets and some structures have come up”, Mirando confirmed that SLC together with Architects and designers would visit the site shortly to assess the situation and commence the work shortly while at the same time saying that SLC will not rush into the matter as they would not want it to be another Dambulla.

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