Brian Lara, MCC Chief lift SLPL to the world

The support from the bastion of the game, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and world famous Brian Lara propelled the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League T20 tournament to the global stage on Saturday.

Kicked off via an international style show of dance and culture of seven provinces at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, the SLPL celebrated its launch despite facing a few setbacks, sceptics and criticism.

Over 100 players, officials from franchises, Cricket Board, past players, celebrities, and supporters attended the launch, at which Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage was the Chief Guest. The launch, the program and participants lived up to the theme of SLPL – ‘Village, Country and the World’. The title sponsor of SLPL is India’s global giant Mahindra and Mahindra Group.

The key picks from the audience was MCC President Phillip Hodson and Prince of Trinidad and world record holder of highest individual score in a test Brian Lara. Their presence as well as speeches gave a big boost to SLPL, earnings from which will be channelled towards provincial cricket development both infrastructure and talent.

The boss of MCC, which lent its Spirit of Cricket endorsement to SLPL, summed up what is in store during the 21-day tournament, which began on Sunday with the finals to be played on 31 August.

“SLPL will be an absolutely wonderful tournament,” Hodson said, adding “SLPL is right for Sri Lanka.” He backed his remark saying, “After 30 years of conflict in an era of peace celebrating the game of cricket via a league linking provinces with a blend of international, national, club and school cricketers all makes it very exciting and meaningful.”

The MCC Chief said the Indian Premier League, the only other domestic T20 tournament to get MCC’s Spirit of Cricket (play the game fair with respect) endorsement, was a success and expressed hope SLPL too would be one in the years to come.

MCC has also been supporting post-tsunami rebuilding in Sri Lanka and Hodson recalled how he was touched by the warmth and what he described as “spirit of life” when a grandmother of one of the Sterling Pounds 250 each scholarship recipients returned the goodwill by presenting him a box containing bags of tea. In partnership with the Foundation for Goodness, MCC has given scholarships for 12 cricketers in tsunami-hit areas and the initiative will be extended to the north as well.

In his speech, Brian Lara, who was introduced by Sri Lanka Captain Mahela Jayawardena and SLPL-co-organiser Sommerset Entertainment Ventures Chairman Sandeep Bhammer, described T20 as an exciting, faster and popular form to promote cricket to a bigger audience globally. He also said that it had raised the bar for cricketers’ skill and fitness.

Lara also said that corporate Sri Lanka and Asia could use SLPL as a platform to reach more consumers, noting that sports sponsorship had become a mega global business.

In his speech Lara recalled some of his great cricketing moments with reference to Sri Lanka as the crowd applauded to the mention of names such as Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda De Silva for their role in the 1996 World Cup victory, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwithararana for their explosive opening burst, Muttiaha Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, whom Lara described as the best in modern day cricket, as well as Chaminda Vaas.

Lara got the biggest applause from an appreciative audience when he read the theme of SLPL ‘Village, Country and the World’ in Sinhala language of ‘Gama, Rata and Lokaya’.

Title Sponsor Mahindra and Mahindra Group’s Chief Marketing Officer S.P. Shukla said Sri Lanka was a strategic and an important market for the M&M Group as Mahindra vehicles had become a household brand. “Though originated and headquartered in India, today Mahindra is a global group with a Sri Lankan heart now that we are sponsoring SLPL, apart from the growing presence in the country,” Shukla added.

Kumar Sangakkara, who is still nursing an injury to his wrist and is out of action for several weeks, in his speech congratulated Sri Lanka Cricket and Sommerset Entertainment Ventures for getting SLPL off the ground. He described SLPL as a “melting pot of cricketers” and if the game is played fair with a passion and funds raised are channelled to development of rural talent, then it will enrich Sri Lanka Cricket overall.

“SLPL must be played not solely for personal benefit but responsibly for the game of cricket. We must be a shining example for Sri Lanka and the world and be men of worthy on and off the field,” emphasised Kumar, who chipped in saying “SLPL will be a fire cracker” if played in the best spirit of the game.

Sports Minister Aluthgamage told the SLPL launch that Sri Lanka was blessed with sports loving people and the 1996 World Cup victory saw the revival of cricket. “With the end of the war, the President Mahinda Rajapaksa Government is endeavouring to develop Sri Lanka as a sporting hub of Asia” as well as take sports to the village. He said with a united Sri Lanka and with peace in the north and east, the entire country could be now harnessed to realise this goal.

The Minister briefly highlighted various Government investments undertaken to construct sports complexes across the country and other infrastructure as well as the reintegration of former LTTE cadres to national sports.

“Already we have inducted seven former LTTE combatants to the national squads of various sports and I am confident that come the South Asian Games in New Delhi next year, some of them could even bring gold medals to Sri Lanka,” Aluthgamage added.

Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga described SLPL as a “breakthrough” as well as a “celebration of cricket in post-war Sri Lanka”. He said that SLPL was in line with the vision of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose vision under the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ is to promote sports countrywide. “SLPL is the first attempt to diversify cricket and improve talent and infrastructure in rural areas so that provinces will create more Muralis, Kumars and Sanaths,” Ranatunga added.

Sri Lanka Cricket will expand SLPL to feature all nine provinces in tandem with the improvement of the tournament, cricket, and facilities.

Among others who spoke were Bollywood celebrity Vivek Oberoi, who used the SLPL opening to announce the launch of a foundation to initially provide and later manufacture artificial limbs for needy children impact by the conflict in the north and east. It was also announced that SLPL would extend US$ 10,000 as a contribution to this foundation.

“Our aim is that all children in the north and east must be able to dance or play and this foundation will provide free artificial limbs to those kids injured due to the conflict,” Oberoi added.

He recalled that when he visited Vavuniya and Kilinochchi after the war had finished, he was moved by seeing little kids who had lost either a leg or an arm unable to enjoy their childhood.

A highlight of the SLPL launch is the organisers ensuring a highly Sri Lankan flavour in the proceedings. For introduction of special speakers and teams and their franchisees, celebrity locals were used. Among them were even the likes of Olympic medallist and sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe and cinema industry icon Ravindra Randeniya.

To liven up the presentation of each of the seven teams, performance by dancers, musicians, and singers depicted the province-specific themes. For example the introduction of Kandurata Warriors saw a magnificent display by Kandyan dancers.

The seven teams are Basnahira Cricket Dundee, Kandurata Warriors, Nagenahira Nagas, Ruhuna Royals, Uthura Rudras, Wayamba United, and Uva Next. The seven franchises raked in US$ 30 million for SLPL for seven years with revenue to be shared between Sri Lanka Cricket and Sommerset Entertainment Ventures. A maximum of four foreign players can play for each team whilst the inclusion of an Under 21 Sri Lankan player is mandatory in a bid to give opportunity to youngsters and build future talent.

The SLPL is set to feature some of cricket’s biggest names – legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will appear alongside fellow Sri Lankans Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Matthews, as well as overseas stars including New Zealand’s Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum and Scott Styris, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, Misbah Ul Haque, Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul, West Indies’ Shiv Chanderpaul and Jerome Taylor, Australia’s Dirk Nannes, John Hastings, Andrew McDonald and Brad Hodge, and South Africa’s Loots Bosman.

T20 icon Chris Gayle was forced to pull out from SLPL due to an injury suffered in the recent Test series with New Zealand. He was included in the Uva Next franchise. Pakistan’s Abdur Rehman (Uva Next) and Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan (Uthura Rudras) were among other dropouts for various reasons.

An impressive line-up of former international players will form the presentation team on ESPN throughout the tournament. Former Australian stars Dean Jones and Jeff Thomson, ex-Pakistani batsman Rameez Raja, the West Indies’ Jeff Dujon, former Sri Lankan opening batsman Russel Arnold, and his fellow countryman Roshan Abeysinghe will offer their insight and expertise.

Via a deal with Sporty Solutionz Pvt Ltd., the Indian subcontinent’s leading sports rights management company has distributed SLPL’s television rights globally, enabling it to be telecast live in 80 countries.

Leading broadcasters for the Mahindra SLPL 2012 include ESPN Star Sports in India and few other territories in Asia, Geo Super in Pakistan, Cric One, the biggest sports channel in the Middle East, GTV in Bangladesh, and Media Net in the Maldives.