SLC remain optimistic over August LPL launch

By Madushka Balasuriya

Sri Lanka Cricket is hopeful the Lanka Premier League will go ahead as scheduled in August, despite the Sri Lankan Government pushing back the touted 1 August date for reopening the Katunayake airport.

The Ministry of Sports last week gave the go ahead for the tournament, which has been pencilled in from 8-22 August. The date had been scheduled taking into account that Sri Lanka would be opening its borders for foreign arrivals on 1 August, but this date has now been postponed with the Government prioritising the arrival of overseas returnees.

“We’re hoping to speak to His Excellency [President Gotabaya Rajapaksa] and see if we can come to a decision,” SLC CEO Ashley De Silva told Daily FT.

The LPL will see five teams taking part, with SLC still accepting tenders regarding franchise ownerships. Players will be selected through an auction process, similar to the one popularised by the Indian Premier League, with each team allowed a maximum of six foreign players.

“Sri Lanka has done very well in containing the coronavirus as opposed to other countries in the region, and as such we have had a lot of interest from foreign players in taking part in the tournament,” added De Silva.

The tournament will be played in either a double or single round-robin format, followed by semifinals and finals. 

The length of the tournament meanwhile hinges not only on Sri Lanka opening its borders in time, but also on whether SLC are able to come to an agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over a tour of Sri Lanka, also in August. If the BCCI were to agree, the tour would likely take place ahead of the LPL, which in turn would shorten the tournament, explained De Silva. 

An inbound India tour would be a significant boon to SLCs finances, which has been hit by the postponement of tours by England earlier this year, and most recently by Bangladesh, who were set to tour Sri Lanka in July but pulled out citing a lack of match preparedness owing to COVID-19.

In terms of health and safety measures, any tour or tournament will see a significant reduction in crowds, with SLC planning to allow only up to 20% of stadium capacity, though the finer details of the health and safety regulations are still to be ironed out.