Sri Lanka cricketers were picked under four categories.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has on Friday (August 20) announced that 18 cricketers have signed the National Player Contracts, which came into effect from August 1, 2021. The contracts will be for the duration of five months, lasting till 31 December 2021.
The SLC has revealed that the Sri Lanka cricketers were picked under four categories and were nominated by the selection panel based on a set of criteria - Performance, Fitness, Leadership/Seniority, Professionalism/Code of Conduct, and Future/Adaptability.
The notable omissions from the contract list are Angelo Mathews, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, and Niroshan Dickwella. Mathews wasn’t given the contract because he is unavailable for selection, while Gunathilaka, Dickwella, and Mendis are serving bans for a breach of COVID-19 protocols in UK.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan players refused to sign the new contracts offered by the SLC because of the lack of transparency. The SLC was to given players the performance-based incentives and introduced a five-point grading system back, bringing down the number of contracts from 32 to only 24.
However, this time, the players have signed the central contracts without “deviation” from the earlier contract after the SLC discussed the criteria and allocation of points to individual players.
SLC said in a statement on Friday: “Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that 18 players signed the National Player Contracts, which came into effect from August 1, 2021. The new contract will be for a five-month period and will end on December 31, 2021.”
On the four omissions, the board said: “Mathews, who was among the players offered a contract was not considered, as he is currently unavailable for selection, whilst Gunathilaka, Niroshan Dickwella, and Kusal Mendis are currently serving a ban. Isuru Udana has retired from international cricket.”
The SLC concluded, “The (18) players signed the contracts without any deviation from the contracts offered previously, which was formulated by Sri Lanka Cricket along with the Technical Advisory Committee. The players were chosen under four categories and were nominated by the Selection Panel, based on a set of criteria such as Performance, Fitness, Leadership/Seniority, Professionalism/Code of Conduct, and Future/Adaptability.”
Players awarded national contracts by SLC: Dhananjaya De Silva, Kusal Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Embuldeniya, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dushmantha Chameera, Dinesh Chandimal, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Ramesh Mendis, Lahiru Kumara, Ashen Bandara and Akila Dananjaya.
(With AP/SLC Inputs)