Shanaka, Mathews among captains named for National Super League

• Delay in playing kits pushes tournament back by four days
• Players can earn minimum of Rs. 100,000 per match

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka’s present white-ball Captain Dasun Shanaka and former skipper Angelo Mathews are among the five captains picked to lead the five teams in the newly formed cash-rich National Super League (NSL), which is due to commence this month.

Shanaka has been made captain of Colombo whose coach is Ruwin Peiris, and Mathews will lead Galle with Jehan Mubarak as the coach.

Sri Lanka’s white ball Vice-Captain Dhananjaya de Silva will captain Jaffna that has Thilina Kandamby as the coach, and another Sri Lankan cricketer Ashan Priyanjan will have the Sri Lanka Under-19 Coach Avishka Gunawardene as coach when he leads Dambulla.

Former Sri Lanka Under-19 World Cup Captain 23-year-old Kamindu Mendis has been given the opportunity to lead Kandy with the national selectors offering him a chance to show whether he has the captaincy skill to move up the order. He will have the services of Malinda Warnapura as coach.

The commencement of the National Super League (NSL) conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket has been pushed back by four days to 24 January due to a delay in getting the players’ playing kits. The limited-over was scheduled to kick-off on 20 January but due to the impending long weekend the kits will not be ready on time.

The NSL contested by the five teams – Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Dambulla and Kandy will commence first with the limited-over matches (50 overs) played twice on a round robin basis. The first-round matches will take place in Colombo (at SSC and P. Sara Oval) and the second-round matches in Kandy (Pallekele).

The top two teams in the league will qualify to play in the final on 19 February at Pallekele.

The five teams comprise of the 26 clubs taking part in SLC’s Major tournaments and have been divided equally with four teams each having five clubs and the fifth team six clubs allocated by way of a draw.

The clubs allocated to each of the five teams are:

• Colombo (5): SSC, Saracens, Negombo CC, Sebastianites, Police SC
• Kandy (5): NCC, Chilaw Marians, Ace Capital CC, Air Force, Kandy Customs
• Jaffna (5): Tamil Union, Ragama CC, Lankan CC, Kalutara TC, Bloomfield
• Galle (5): Colts, Army, Panadura SC, Galle CC, Moors SC
• Dambulla (6): CCC, BRC, Navy SC, Badureliya SC, Kurunegala YCC, Nugegoda S&WC  

The 20-member squads for the five teams will be picked from players from these clubs by the national selectors. The national selectors have the contracted players list, and in addition, they will pick another 25 players sitting together with the respective coaches assigned for the five teams.

“The National Super League is trying to pay something very much more than the club fees to ensure that the players will benefit from playing in the Super League. The players’ fees will be very much higher than what they have been getting in the past. It is mainly to encourage them to perform better in the club system to get into the National Super League,” said Tournament Committee Chairman Samantha Dodanwela. 

“Sri Lanka Cricket is looking at supporting the cricketers financially through this tournament by lifting the standard of their cricketing ability and lifestyle.”

Following the completion of the NSL limited-over, SLC will commence the four-day league tournament on 25 February with the same five teams participating. Running concurrently with it will be the Emerging Trophy (Under-23) three-day tournament with the 26 clubs taking part where a club can have two players above the age of 24 and below 28 in the team.