Thursday Jun 11, 2026
Thursday Jun 11, 2026
Thursday, 21 May 2026 03:56 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka Cricket’s new Transformation Committee has made amendments to the domestic tournament structure with the aim of reducing the number of clubs participating in the Major Club tournaments from 14 to 10 over a period of two seasons starting with the present one 2026-27 which is scheduled to commence on 23 May.
The new amendments will also apply to the Tier B tournaments which also commences with the T20 matches on 23 May.
At the conclusion of the 3 Major Club tournaments – T20, 50-over and 3-day League the three clubs finishing at the bottom of the Final rankings, based on total weightage points will be relegated to Tier B for the 2027-28 season and the champion club of Tier B promoted to Major Club for the 2027-28 season thus reducing the number of participating clubs to 12.
The process repeats itself for the 2027-28 season where the three clubs finishing at the bottom of the Major Club will be relegated to Tier B for the 2028-29 season and the champion club of Tier B promoted to Major Club for the 2028-29 season thereby further reducing the participating clubs to 10.
In future only 10 clubs will take part in all Major Club tournaments with the bottom club being relegated to Tier B and the Tier B champion promoted to Major Club each season.
A similar amendment is applicable to the 3 Tier B tournaments as well – T20, 50-over and 3-day league where at2022 the conclusion of the 2026-27 season the three clubs finishing at the bottom of the Final rankings based on total weightage points will be relegated to the Governor’s Trophy tournament and the champion Governor’s Trophy team promoted to Tier B for the 2027-28 season.
However, the number of participating clubs will remain the same at 12.
The process will be repeated for the 2027-28 season where the three clubs finishing at the bottom of Tier B will be relegated to the Governor’s Trophy tournament and the champion Governor’s Trophy team promoted to Tier B for the 2028-29 season with no change in the number of participating clubs.
In future only 12 clubs will participate in all Tier B tournaments with the bottom club relegated to the Governor’s Trophy and the Governor’s Trophy winner promoted to Tier B.
The need for a reduction of the number of clubs playing in the Major Club competition from 26 commenced during the 2022 season when Sri Lanka Cricket’s elected body was in charge. The bottom four clubs from each group were relegated. That process over the past three seasons saw 12 clubs getting demoted and the number of clubs playing in the Major Club tournaments whittled down to 14.
The initial idea was to reduce the number of clubs to 12, but a new administration has decided 10 would be more practical.
The Major Club and Tier B T20 tournaments were initially scheduled to commence on 13 May but due to the adverse weather conditions it was postponed to 23 May. The new amendments to the tournament structure was made on 18 May.
The moot question that needs to be asked is had the tournament commenced as scheduled on 13 May whether the new amendments could have taken place and become operational.
