No Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) representative was invited to the ICC’s quarterly meeting in Ahmedabad over the weekend, but the fact that the ICC board has not slapped sanctions on SLC’s new Transformation Committee is being quietly celebrated by the new board in Sri Lanka,  a board member said.

The Transformation Committee was appointed by the nation’s government in May, replacing the elected set of SLC office-bearers. The ICC had taken a dim view of government interference in SLC in 2023, as well as in 2015, imposing sanctions on each of those occasions.

Sachin Tendulkar may not be a fan of them, but impact subs are making their way into the Lanka Premier League,  as is a stipulation that an Under-23 player (one born on or after July 1, 2003) has to be a part of each side’s playing XI at all times – even after the use of an impact sub. These were two key elements playing on the minds of the five franchises as the LPL draft 2026 took place on Monday in Colombo.

Both these changes ensured that squad composition – right from the four pre-signings to the 16-18 players drafted on the night – had to be fairly well thought out, with teams needing to decide which roles to entrust to a largely unproven talent while simultaneously balancing their squads for maximum impact. Complicating matters further was the relative dearth in the Under-23 category, with many of Sri Lanka’s Under-19 talents due to play India in July and thus unavailable for the tournament.

It was also revealed that Pathum Nissanka and Matheesha Pathirana are both nursing injuries, despite the former being named in the touring party for the West Indies. It is understood that his workload is being managed, with the player expected to undergo surgery in order to be fit for India’s tour of Sri Lanka later this year.

In terms of the teams, four of the five sides revealed new owners and coaching staff, with fresh team names to go with them. Only the Dambulla Sixers remained unchanged – though they had gone through a tumultuous period in 2024, with two changes in ownership prior to the start of the season. Jaffna are now the SC Jaffna Kings, Galle are the Galle Gallants, Kandy the Kandy Royals and Colombo the Colombo Kaps.

The draft itself concluded in a little under four hours, with each team tasked with drafting squads of at least 18 players, with the option of two additional signings at the end. In total there were 14 mandatory rounds of drafting, with two optional rounds for the teams that decided to participate.

Players were split into three categories – Platinum (US$ 50,000), Gold ($30,000), Classic ($20,000) – with each having a separate category for local and foreign players. There were also categories for Associate ($15,000) and Emerging Under-23 ($10,000) players.

Vijay Shankar the recently retired Indian national, IPL breakout star Eshan Malinga, fiery Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan, and the experienced pair of Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal were some of the notable pre-signings, while Avishka Fernando and Charith Asalanka were both first-round picks despite neither able to find a place in the Sri Lankan T20 squad. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Mohammed Nawaz headlined the overseas picks.

The final squads are as follows:

SC Jaffna Kings: Taskin Ahmed, Dunith Wellalage, Shakib Al Hasan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Avishka Fernando, David Wiese, Dilshan Madushanka, Kamil Mishara, Traveen Mathews, Ibrahim Zadran, Mohommed Shiraz, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Nuwanidu Fernando, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lizaad Williams, Dipendra Airee, Kugathas Mathulan, Praveen Manisha, Nishan Madushka

Colombo Kaps: Ben McDermott, Kamindu Mendis, Jimmy Neesham, Kusal Mendis, Binura Fernando, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Milan Ratnayake, Janith Liyanage, Shahnawaz Dahani, Jeffrey Vandersay, Thanuka Dabare, Movin Subasingha, Mohammed Haris, Hasan Mahmud, Kushal Bhurtel, Malsha Tharupathi, Sharujan Shanmuganathan, Wanuja Sahan, Anthony Pragasam

Kandy Royals: Vijay Shankar, Angelo Mathews, Moeen Ali, Wanindu Hasaranga, Nuwan Thushara, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Kusal Perera, Asitha Fernando, Garuka Sanketh, Daniel Sams, Vishen Halambage, Muditha Lakshan, Lahiru Udara, Dale Phillips, Zahir Khan, Brandon McMullen, Sahan Mihira, Pawan Sandesh, Dushan Hemantha, Isitha Wijesundera

Galle Gallants: Litton Das, Eshan Malinga, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Dasun Shanaka, Charith Asalanka, Mohammad Nawaz, Pramod Madushan, Lasith Croospulle, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Akif Javed, Sahan Arachchige, Chamika Karunaratne, Tharindu Rathnayake, Sam Harper, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Haider Ali, Dinura Kalupahana, Uri Koththigoda, Kasun Rajitha, Sachindu Colombage

Dambulla Sixers: Reeza Hendricks, Dinesh Chandimal, Sahibzada Farhan, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Niroshan Dickwella, Pavan Rathnayake, Akila Dananjaya, Mohammed Wasim, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ramesh Mendis, Sachitha Jayatilake, Gulbadin Naib, Dian Forrester, Shadley Schalkwyk, Vishva Kumara, Gayana Weerasinghe

Pre-signings:

SC Jaffna Kings – Taskin Ahmed, Dunith Wellalage, Shakib Al Hasan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa

Galle Gallants – Litton Das, Eshan Malinga, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Dasun Shanaka

Kandy Royals – Vijay Shankar, Angelo Mathews, Moeen Ali, Wanindu Hasaranga

Colombo Kaps – Ben McDermott, Kamindu Mendis, Jimmy Neesham, Kusal Mendis

Dambulla Sixers – Reeza Hendricks, Dinesh Chandimal, Sahibzada Farhan, Dushmantha Chameera

[Cricinfo]

The United States Department of Defense has barred journalists from its press office, the latest move by the Pentagon to restrict media access since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez said on Monday that the administration had re-designated the office as a “Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility” due to its use by speechwriters with access to classified government information.

“These speechwriters routinely handle classified material and require SIPRNet access,” Valdez said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera, referring to the secure computer network used by the Pentagon to share classified information.

“As a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space. Access to the office of the Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and to the Press Secretary remains available by appointment only,” Valdez added, using the Trump administration’s preferred title for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The Washington Post first reported the change.

The move follows a slew of steps by the Trump administration to curtail the ability of US media outlets to report on the military and other areas of the government.

In March, the Defense Department said it would no longer allow media outlets to maintain offices at the Pentagon after a judge sided with The New York Times in a lawsuit challenging the imposition of new rules for obtaining press credentials.

The Pentagon also announced that journalists would require an official escort while inside the complex, a policy that The New York Times is seeking to overturn in a separate lawsuit filed in May.

The National Press Club, the main professional organisation for journalists in the US, condemned the latest restrictions as a “troubling escalation” in the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail media scrutiny of the Pentagon.

“Independent reporting on the US military is not optional,” National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr said in a statement.

“When journalists are pushed farther from the institutions they cover, the American people are left with less information, less transparency, and less oversight. Any effort to restrict that access should alarm everyone who values a free and informed society.”

The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy organisation, also criticised the move.

“It’s rare for anything other than disingenuous spin and outright lies to come out of the Pentagon’s press office these days, so it’s hard to imagine what basis they have to call the space classified,” Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the organisation, told Al Jazeera.

“The only thing sensitive or confidential about the information released by Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon is that it’s not true.”

[Aljazeera]