Sri Lankan cricketers have finally signed new performance-related contracts ahead of the home white-all series against India after being given a Wednesday (July 7) deadline by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
This week, the SLC had issued the ultimatum before 25 Sri Lanka cricketers have signed the new contracts ahead of their limited-overs series against India at home.
It is being said that Sri Lanka’s Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne and veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews have been left out of the central contracts and the national squad for the three ODIs and as many as T20Is against India, starting on July 13 in Colombo.
The turmoil between the SLC and the players began in May 2021 when the new performance-related contracts were announced and even the players went to the England tour for the white-ball series without signing the new contracts. They returned to Sri Lanka without a single win from the UK tour.
An SLC source told AFP on Wednesday: “Players were told in no uncertain terms that they should accept the new terms or leave the team hotel by Wednesday morning. They have signed the contracts and the pay dispute is now over.”
Notably, the Sri Lanka players were reluctant to sign as the SLC has cut the retainership amount of the 24 national players by up to 40 percent in the new performance-based contracts.
Meanwhile, Karunaratne and Mathews were stunned by the snub after being reportedly told that they will not be offered annual contracts, rather will be paid for Test appearances. While Mathews' annual fee would fall from 130,000 dollars a year to 80,000 dollars, Karunaratne was offered 70,000 dollars, a drop of 30,000 dollars under the new deal.
All-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva and wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella will be the best paid at 100,000 dollars each.
The reports also suggested that Mathews has informed the SLC that he does not want to play in Tests as he is now considering retiring from the game.
(With AFP Inputs)
