Deadline goes unheeded as cricketers decline to sign contracts

SLC and the 24 players that have been offered contracts have reached an impasse

• New SLC office-bearers to resolve issue

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The deadline set by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for the 24 cricketers to sign their newly drawn-up performance-based model contracts ended yesterday with none of the players signing it.

The bone of contention is the system adopted to award points for each player in respect of performance, for fitness, and for the other categories that have been identified in this new performance-based model, where independent marks have been allotted in respect of each category for each player. It is this information with regard to the system adopted to give those marks is what the players are seeking from SLC now for over a month, before signing their contracts.

The new performance-based model contracts were drawn up by the Sports Minister-appointed Cricket Development and Technical Advisory Committee with the assistance of the selection committee, the Head Coach and the Director of Cricket.

Attorney-at-Law Nishan Premathiratne, who represents the 24 players when contacted by Daily FT said that nobody has signed, and not until the information the players are looking for from SLC are presented to them.

In a statement through Premathiratne, the cricketers had said that they were “not in agreement to sign unfair and non-transparent contracts”.

The Sri Lanka team of 24 players picked for the white ball format are due to leave for England on 8 June and most likely will sign a tour contract as they did before they left for the recently concluded tour to Bangladesh.

SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said: “A decision will be taken up at the Exco meeting of the new office-bearers who have just taken over. They will also evaluate it and take a decision on how it should be taken forward.”

“They will definitely give an opportunity to the Cricket Development and Technical Advisory committee to brief them about the way the contract was done. They will also have a further discussion with the Technical Committee and see how it can be taken forward. Anyway we have to work together. SLC and the Technical Committee will have further discussion with the players and see how it can be resolved.”