Sports
Big focus on fitness in Central Contracts
by Rex Clementine
There may have been a few not so attractive clauses like the senior players’ payments taken off from the new Central Contracts that the national cricketers are refusing to sign, but overall, there are provisions for players to earn more money if they improve their performance. For example, beating a top ranked team or reaching the semi-finals of an ICC event will enable a player to earn more money rather than pocketing money on his seniority base.
Also heavily in focus in the new contracts is players’ fitness. While a national cricketer is given 50 points for his performance in the previous year, fitness receives 20 points and if a player is not meeting the required standards in skin folds or in the two kilometer run, they are set to miss out a big chunk of money.
The other areas points are awarded on are leadership, professionalism and future potential with every area receiving ten marks each adding up the 100 points. Those that get most points earn top contracts such as Dhananjaya de Silva and Niroshan Dickwella, who became the nation’s highest paid cricketers receiving US$ 100,000 each.
A total of 24 players received national contracts that have been separated into 12 categories. During a media briefing yesterday, Director of Cricket Tom Moody and Chairman of Cricket Advisory Committee Aravinda de Silva explained the finer points.
A total of US$ 1.4 million has been allocated by Sri Lanka Cricket for national contracts but the earnings of players will significantly increase if they are able to beat the top ranked teams often. Beating the number one ranked team will earn the players a bonus of US$ 75,000 while beating a team ranked number two will see them earning US$ 65,000 additionally. Payments for Test matches have been increased to USD 7500 from 7000 while payments for ODIs and T-20s will remain UD$ 4000 and US$ 3000 respectively.
Moody explaining the contracts said that they had followed a formula that has been used widely in other countries.
Aravinda de Silva said that the Cricket Advisory Committee has recommended to the Executive Committee to significantly raise payments for domestic cricket.
While a complete shake up of First Class cricket is not expected what will happen for sure is the Provincial Tournament becoming the benchmark for national selections.
The Provincial Tournament has not been continued for various reasons; mainly successive administrations prefer to have the club tournament as the number one format to please their vote base. But the need to give prominence to Provincial Tournament has been identified and it will now take precedence over all else.
SLC CEO Ashley de Silva confirmed that the Asia Cup that was scheduled to take place in June this year in Colombo will be postponed.
Professor Arjuna De Silva, who headed the Management Committee, chaired the meeting. His term ends today with the new Executive Committee expected to be elect today.
Former President Shammi Silva will be elected uncontested as President with his Ex Co filling all the key slots in the administration of the sport.
The BCB has said that they will rely on the Bangladesh government’s directive before finalising their tour to Pakistan later this month. Bangladesh were originally scheduled to play five T20Is there from May 25 to June 3, but the PSLs schedule was revised following cross-border tensions between Pakistan and India.
According to the revised fixtures, the PSL final will now be held on May 25, when Pakistan and Bangladesh were originally scheduled to play the first T20I.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that the PCB has sent a new schedule for the T20Is between Pakistan and Bangladesh, with the first match now slotted for May 27, and the last on June 5.
BCB’s media committee chairman Iftekhar Rahman said they will rely on information from government security agencies and the Bangladesh high commission in Islamabad to take the final decision.
“Once we receive official communication about the dates and venues [of the tour], we will forward it to the government,” Rahman said. “The BCB is not the decision-maker in this matter. If the government agencies and our embassy declare Pakistan safe for travel, only then will we proceed.
“In our previous meeting, we agreed that any such situation would be referred to the foreign and home ministries. Once we get clearance from all relevant bodies, we will finalise the tour. Security concerns were more significant in the past, but Pakistan has proven it can ensure safety. Still, given the current circumstances, we need to assess whether the situation across the country is stable before sending the team.”
Before playing Pakistan, Bangladesh are scheduled to play two T20Is against UAE in Sharjah on May 17 and 19. They were then supposed to fly to Lahore on May 21.
[Cricinfo]
Apna Perera won his third title of the 110th Colombo Championships as he partnered Dhilvan Herath to beat Dumindu Dilum and Chehan Fernando in the open men’s doubles final.
Apna and Dhilvan registered 6-2, 6-2 win in the final.
Apna, the open men’s singles champion, was also the winner of the mixed doubles which was played according to round robin method. In the mixed doubles Apna partnered Inuki Jayaweera.
Results
Men’s doubles semi-finals
Apna Perera and Dhilvan Herath beat Ashen Silva and Lithum Jayabandu 6-1, 6-2
Dumindu Dilum and Chehan Fernando beat Methika Wickramasinghe and Vichinthya Nilaweera 6-3, 2-6, 10-4.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) recently carried out a Fast Bowling Talent Search program in the Polonnaruwa District as part of its ongoing efforts to identify and nurture emerging cricketing talent across the country.
The program, held at the Royal College Ground, Polonnaruwa, attracted over 60 promising young players—both boys and girls—including school cricketers of the district. Each participant underwent skill assessments to evaluate their fast bowling potential.
Following the evaluations, 20 talented bowlers were selected for further development.
The selected players will now receive structured training under the guidance of Provincial coaches of Sri Lanka Cricket, with a focus on refining their techniques and enhancing their overall performance.
Those who continue to demonstrate consistent improvement will be given the opportunity to join SLC’s district squads, thereby becoming part of the official National Pathway Program.
This initiative is a part of SLC’s ‘Cricket Gamata’, program which aims to find talent from rural areas across Sri Lanka.
The talent assessments were conducted by Lasantha Lakmin, SLC Talent Scout for the North Central and North Western Provinces; Lakshitha Herath, North Central Provincial Women’s Coach; and Saman Senanayake, North Central Provincial Fast Bowling Coach.
The event was organized by the North Central Provincial Cricket Association under the guidance of Sri Lanka Cricket. It was managed by Krishan Anandakumar, Manager of the Center of Excellence, Dambulla.
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