Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup-winning team will arrive in Kuala Lumpur today (Friday) for a series of events marking the 30th anniversary of their triumph that stunned the cricketing world. The tour, organised by Tourism Malaysia, Cricket Malaysia and the Royal Selangor Club, will feature several events spread across four days.

The highlight of the visit will be a T20 game involving the World Cup-winning side on Saturday, starting at 11:30 a.m. Sri Lanka time. The match will be telecast live on Dialog TV.

A gala dinner, coaching clinics for underprivileged children conducted by the former world champions and several fan engagement activities are also part of the programme.

Sri Lanka’s dependable number three from the 1996 campaign, Asanka Gurusinha and team physiotherapist Alex Kountouri, both based in Melbourne, had already arrived in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the event, while the rest of the squad were due to leave Colombo on Thursday night.

“I am really excited and looking forward to the event. It’s always fun to get together with the boys and relive the good old days. It’s going to be a cracking few days,” Gurusinha told The Island.

“Without us even realising it, 30 years have gone by since we became world champions. All the boys are still close to each other just like we were back then and as I said, it’s going to be an exciting few days,” he added.

The organisers have secured several sponsors for the occasion and hope the presence of Sri Lanka’s celebrated side will help generate greater interest in cricket in Malaysia.

Malaysia became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in 1967 and remains an active member of the Asian Cricket Council. Earlier this year, they appointed former Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore as Director of Cricket.

The country has previously hosted ICC events, including the Under-19 World Cup, but the national side has struggled to keep pace with emerging Asian teams such as Nepal, Oman, UAE and Hong Kong.

Badminton remains Malaysia’s most popular sport, accounting for ten of the country’s 15 Olympic medals. Football too enjoys a passionate following, leaving cricket fighting an uphill battle for wider appeal.

Rex Clementine

in Kuala Lumpur

Saudi Arabia is set to host its first franchise league later this year, with the ‘Dunes League T20’ due to launch in October. The league has been sanctioned by the Saudi Arabia Cricket Federation (SACF) and is expected to feature players who have recently retired from international cricket but remain active on the franchise circuit.

Saudi Arabia has been a major disruptor in the sporting world over the last five years as the oil-rich kingdom looks to diversify its economy, staging lucrative football, tennis and boxing events. The nation’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) also launched the breakaway LIV Golf tour, though has recently announced that it will withdraw funding at the end of this season.

There have been widespread rumours over the last three years that Saudi Arabia would disrupt cricket by launching a T20 league to rival the IPL, with further speculation last year about potential investment in a ‘Grand Slam-style’ circuit  of T20 leagues floated by the Australian Cricketers’ Association.

In practice, Arabia’s entry into the cricketing world has been gradual, via sponsorship deals with the ICC and staging the IPL auction in 2024. The SACF also partnered with the UAE’s ILT20 last year, and has signed a long-term agreement to stage the FairBreak Women’s T20 Challenge,  though the first edition has been postponed due to conflict in the Gulf region.

The six-team Dunes T20 League is planned to launch in October with matches played in Taif, near Jeddah. It has been developed in partnership with the Sports Asian Network and two talent agencies: Unique Sports Group, whose clients include Jofra Archer, and Prolithic, who manage Abhishek Sharma. Prolithic’s Yuvraj Singh will act as the league’s ambassador.

The SACF initially announced provisional plans for the league late last year and said that it was designed to put Saudi Arabia “on the global cricket map” and “develop Saudi talent”.

The league is expected to feature a maximum of four players who have played full-member international cricket in the last two years, thereby falling under the threshold that demands approval from the ICC. Top salaries could reach USD 100,000.

[Cricinfo]