Four participants kicked out of LPL

by Rex Clementine  

Four individuals have been kicked out of the second edition of the Lanka Premier League after the International Cricket Council informed Sri Lanka Cricket that they are ineligible to take part in the competition having played ‘unsanctioned cricket’.

All four had represented Sri Lanka in the last 15 years at some stage and they had been picked to be involved in the LPL. One of them was to function as a coach while the other three had been picked from the draft to play. However, now they have been thrown out because they had played an unsanctioned tournament in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Kenyan tournament had not been sanctioned by the International Cricket Council and if any player or coach takes part in unsanctioned tournaments he is automatically banned from getting involved in sanctioned cricket, which LPL is.

Sri Lanka has received lot of support from the ICC in fighting corruption in the sport and the suspension of the four players sends a strong message that players need to chose wisely which competition to play.

Meanwhile leading businessmen Asoka Pathirage has come up with a bid to buy the Colombo franchise. Earlier owned by an overseas businessmen, SLC found communication with them difficult and having consulted ICC it was decided to terminate the deal and offer a fresh deal to Pathirage’s Softlogic.

Pathirage had got into the act in double quick time putting up a formidable unit that is captained by Angelo Mathews and comprises other international and local stars.

An SLC official told The Island that the board had concerns over the Kandy franchise as well and were closely monitoring the situation Terminating their contract seems out of the equation as there is little over two weeks before the start of the tournament.

The first edition of LPL although was successful had several issues with corrupt approaches being made to the players and these approaches were reported to the ICC. Alex Marshall, the head of ICC Anti Corruption Unit commended the players constantly reporting these approaches. Leading into the second edition of the LPL Marshall also had warned the need to be vigilant.

The second edition of LPL will begin on the 5th December and will conclude on the 23rd of December. The first leg will be played at RPS while the teams will move to Hambantota for the knockouts.