SRI LANKA PREMIER LEAGUE T20 TOURNAMENT (SLPL) ANOTHER STEP FORWARD

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has secured the services of several prominent overseas cricketers, including the likes of David Warner and Shaun Tait from Australia and Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard from the West Indies for the upcoming Sri Lanka Premier League T20 tournament (SLPL).

Shahid Afridi, who will be captaining a team in the tournament, along with Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir and Umar Akmal represent some of the Pakistani talent on show.

As many as 12 Indian players are expected to feature in the tournament.

South Africa’s dashing Herschelle Gibbs and veteran Makhaya Ntini are amongst the other big names on show.

The first edition of the SLPL will get underway on July 19. All matches will be held at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Full list of overseas players:

Australia: David Warner, Shaun Tait, Callum Ferguson, Daniel Christian.

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal.

India: Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Manish Pandey, Manoj Tiwary, Munaf Patel, Paul Valthaty, Praveen Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Saurabh Tiwary, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar.

Ireland: Kevin O'Brien.

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori.

Pakistan: Imran Nazir Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz.

South Africa: Albie Morkel, Herschelle Gibbs, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Makhaya Ntini.

West Indies: Chris Gayle Danza Hyatt, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard.

Sri Lanka Premier League begins July 19

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have confirmed the dates for the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League will be from July 19 to August 4, 2011. The seven provinces will play 24 matches over the 18 days, all of which will be telecast live globally. That suggests a format in which all the teams will play each other once in a league stage, before two semi-finals and a final.

Each team will only be allowed five overseas players in their squad, of which only four can be named in the XI. Several foreign players including Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs have already been signed for the tournament.

SLC also unveiled the team names for the provinces. The seven teams will be: Basnahira Bears, Kandurata Kites, Nagenahira Nagas, Ruhuna Rhinos, Uthura Oryxes, Uva Unicorns and Wayamba Wolves. The board plans to add two more provinces to the tournament within three years.

Afridi to lead a team in Sri Lanka Premier League

Pakistan's limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi says he has accepted an offer to lead one of the provinces in the inaugural edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) later this year.

"It's a good opportunity and I will try to make the most of it," Afridi, 31, told Pakistani daily the News. "There is a comfortable window for us [Pakistan's cricketers] to feature in the league in Sri Lanka. We have a sufficient break from international cricket this summer."

The SLPL comes as a shot in the arm for Pakistan's cricketers who have been ignored by the lucrative IPL since the inaugural edition in 2008. Afridi said that he has signed a three-year contract, worth US$35,000 for the first season of the SLPL, with the amount doubling in 2012. He is expected to be joined in the tournament by Pakistan team-mates Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul and Umar Akmal.

The SLPL will be a seven-team inter-provincial tournament played over approximately 18 days in July-August. The teams will play each other once, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals. All the games will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and the winner of the tournament will qualify for the Champions League Twenty20.

Among the other international players who will be taking part are Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Daniel Vettori, Daniel Christian, Herschelle Gibbs and Kevin O'Brien.

SLPL to add two more provinces later

Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said two more provinces will be added to the Sri Lanka Premier League after the first few seasons. Seven provinces will be a part of the first tournament, with the Rajarata and Sabaragamuwa provinces the only ones of Sri Lanka's nine not to have a team. Ranatunga said their exclusion would not last long.

"We merely wanted to limit the number of teams to ensure competitiveness," he told the Daily Mirror. "So far, we have had only five teams in our domestic provincial tournaments. We added North (Uthura) and East (Negenahira) for this first tournament, and as we progress with it in the next few seasons, we will add the other two provinces as well."

The first edition of the SLPL, which will be played over 18 days starting at the end of July this year, will see all its matches played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo; this despite Sri Lanka having built two new stadiums, in Pallekele and Hambantota, for the recently concluded World Cup. Ranatunga explained logistical reasons meant only one stadium could be used for the tournament.

"We had to finish everything within two or three weeks. The logistics of playing the matches at various venues are too cumbersome. The players would also be tired if they have to travel heavily within a short period. So we had no option but to limit the tournament to Colombo."

Unlike the IPL and the new format of the Big Bash League in Australia, the SLPL will not feature city-based teams. Ranatunga said having provincial teams would allow an entire province to associate themselves with a team and thus create a bigger following for the tournament.

Sri Lanka Premier League to have seven teams

 

The first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) will be a seven-team inter-provincial tournament played over approximately 18 days at the end of July and the beginning of August this year. The teams will play each other once, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals. All the games will be played the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and the winner of the tournament will qualify for the Champions League Twenty20.

ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the seven provinces that will be represented are Basnahira, Kandurata, Nagenahira, Ruhuna, Uthura, Uva and Wayamba. Sri Lanka Cricket will select the players for each team, with domestic players likely to be allotted to their home provinces, thereby ensuring the teams have local support.

Each team will have a mix of Sri Lanka and international players with total squad sizes between 16 and 18 players. The playing XI must consist of a minimum of seven Sri Lanka players and a maximum of four international players, with one Sri Lanka player being a current Under-21 cricketer. Each team will also have its share of icon or marquee players, as well as a prominent ex-Sri Lanka player as a mentor or coach.

International players will also be assigned to the various teams by the SLC national selection committee depending on the needs of each team. In this respect, SLC's approach differs from the IPL, in which teams were sold to franchises who then bid for players in an auction. Among the international players who will be taking part are Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Daniel Vettori, Daniel Christian, Herschelle Gibbs and Kevin O'Brien.

The SLPL has also approached a number of Indian players apart from those likely to be playing the Test series against England, and is waiting for the BCCI to approve their participation. The BCCI has already stated it has no problems with the proposed league and that Indian players are free to take part as long as there is no conflict with India's international or domestic schedule.

The league will be run by the Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment, which has bought the rights for five years. The television rights for the tournament have already been sold in Sri Lanka and the goal is to broadcast the tournament across all mediums in every cricketing nation. The matches will be played at 4 pm and 8 pm on most days, although some days will see only an 8 pm game.