Sri Lankan Players Reject To Sign Contracts After Introduction Of New Points-Based Grading System

Sri Lanka cricketers have threatened their board they will retire prematurely after the introduction of a new points-based grading system which in turn will decide their annual paychecks. The players have demanded more transparency from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) as to how they are being graded as the new system will significantly impact their earnings.

As per the new system, players will now be categorized into four different groups based on points that give priority to levels of fitness, discipline, performance in international and domestic cricket during the last two years, leadership, and overall value to the team, reports The Sunday Times.

Sri Lanka Cricketers Want The Board To Reveal How The Points Are Allocated In The New Grading System

Players want the board to reveal how the points are being allotted so as to understand the thought process and identify areas that they need to improve upon.

“Each individual player very correctly believes they are entitled to a disclosure on the points allotted which categorized their ranking,” Nishan Sydney Premathiratne, the player representative in the SLC contract negotiations, told The Sunday Times.

“Transparency would also create unity and harmony. All players are in unison seeking this information. Transparency is paramount so that the players also know how they were assessed and what weaknesses they need to address,” he added.

However, Ashley de Silva, part of the Sri Lanka Cricket Management Committee appointed by the Minister of Sports, said the contracts have been finalized after making amendments that the players asked for.

“The contracts have been finalized,” De Silva told Daily FT. “The players have appointed a lawyer and they wanted certain amendments to be done in the agreement which our lawyers have done. Now we are in the process of sharing it with the senior players. So far nobody has said that they are not going to sign it.”

“The current team to Bangladesh has gone on a tour agreement and they have been given the new agreement to go through and if anybody wanted to sign it they could. I haven’t got the feedback from the manager because they took off yesterday morning,” he added.

While the annual retainership has been reduced, a new performance-based bonus system has been introduced by SLC. A series victory over the top-ranked Test team will result in a bonus of USD 1,50,000. Similarly beating the top-ranked ODI team in a series will give them a bonus of USD 75,000 and for T20I, USD 50,000.

Sri Lanka’s Leading Cricketers Reject To Sign Contracts

Leading Sri Lankan players have rejected to sign contracts offered by SLC after they have been forced to take massive pay cuts. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) recently offered new contracts to its players, which will see them get a 35% pay cut.

The SLC is all set to restructure the contract offered to the players. All categories of cricket will now have further sub-categories with different base fee prices for the players. Each category will now be divided into three tiers, which will see the reduced salary of the players accordingly.

Leading Sri Lanka cricket team players like Angelo Mathews, Suranga Lakmal, and Dinesh Chandimal along with Test skipper Dimuth Karunaratne have rejected to sign contracts offered by SLC after they have been forced to take massive pay cuts. The new contracts have been most profitable for wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella and Dhananjaya de Silva.

Recently, SLC announced an 18-member squad for the upcoming Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh 2021 ODI series. Kusal Perera has been named the Sri Lanka new ODI captain as he replaces Dimuth Karunaratne who has been dropped from the side after he recently led the Lankans to a loss in the three-match ODI series in West Indies.

Kusal Mendis has been appointed as Kusal Perera’s deputy in the ODI format. The changes have been made keeping in mind the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.