SLC puts meaningful domestic cricket structure in place

A National Super League 4-day match in progress 

• To discourage players from going overseas
• Players can earn up to Rs. 2.3-2.5 m a season

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Under the Tournament Committee chairmanship of Samantha Dodanwela, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has put out a meaningful domestic cricket calendar which clearly gives a pathway for a young and emerging cricketer to earn national recognition and also for those who decide to stick to playing all the domestic tournaments to earn a princely sum of between Rs. 2.3 to 2.5 million for a season.

This kind of money the players who appear in domestic cricket have never earned before and that had led to most of them seeking fresh pastures overseas to make ends meet. But with this new structure in place a player can not only can earn a decent remuneration but is also eligible for selection to the National team and for the Lanka Premier League (LPL).   

The tournament calendar has been so structured in order to discourage players from going overseas especially to the UK and playing in the leagues for which they would earn around Rs. 1.5 to 1.8 million and also lose out on national and LPL selections. 

For the upcoming 2022 English season, at least around 70 cricketers from Sri Lanka are due to play in the leagues. However, Dodanwela is optimistic this figure will drop from next year once the players come to know the consequences they face by playing in the leagues.

“Most of the leading clubs have decided that they would not select players on their return from playing in the English leagues as it would be unfair by the players who have already filled their positions in the team,” said Dodanwela.

“This would not only be a drawback for a player but for his future as well because if he does not play a minimum of five first-class matches he will not be eligible to play league cricket and also if he does not represent his club he will not be selected to play in the National Super League tournaments and also the LPL.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has set the National Super League (four-day and 50-over tournaments) as the benchmark for national selections. For the national T20 selections it is the LPL.

In the recently concluded NSL 50-over tournament a player got Rs. 40,000 per match, while in the ongoing NSL four-day tournament a player stands to earn Rs. 110,000 per match.

Dodanwela said that the tournament committee has put forward a proposal to the SLC Executive Committee to increase the remittance of players’ match fees for the upcoming Major inter-club T20, Limited-Over and League tournaments. “It has been done for the betterment of cricket in Sri Lanka.”

The tournament committee has decided to bring forward the Major T20 tournament so that the players who perform well will have the chance to get selected for the LPL Season 3 player draft. The LPL Season 3 is scheduled for August with five teams in contention. It will be followed by the inaugural LPL T10 tournament in December.

Dodanwela said that the tournament committee will make it a practice to put out the domestic calendar for each season by January so that the players can plan out their schedules. He said the tournament committee in concurrence with the Technical and Advisory Committee had drawn up the calendar and are prepared to make any adjustments to it next year if there are any shortcomings.

The following is the Domestic Tournament Calendar for 2022 released by SLC.