Sri Lanka name 56 foreign players for SLPL

Sri Lanka Cricket has named 56 foreign players who will play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League. There are no India or England players - apart from Azhar Mahmood - among the 56, who were picked by the seven franchises via a draft system in Colombo on Thursday. 

Shahid Afridi* was originally supposed to be the icon player for Nagenahira but all the franchises wanted to make sure their icon players were available throughout the tournament. Due to the recently announced Australia-Pakistan series that starts on August 28th, Afridi would potentially miss the semi-finals and finals of the SLPL if his team made it that far, leaving Nagenahira without their icon player at the business end of the tournament. With the agreement of the other franchises, Afridi was released by Naganahira in to the draft, where he was subsequently signed by Ruhuna. Lasith Malinga remains Ruhuna's icon, while Nagenahira's icon player will be named on Friday.

SLC gets official warning for Galle pitch

Sri Lanka Cricket has been given an official ICC warning for preparing a "poor" pitch in Galle for the first Test against Australia that was played from August 31-September 3. The ICC's pitch consultant Andy Atkinson will inspect the pitch at the end of this month and make recommendations about any corrective action required. SLC, for its part, will need to submit a report confirming the recommended corrective action, if any, has been taken prior to staging its next international match in Galle.

The Galle Test, won by Australia, lasted four days, with the home team being dismissed for 105 and 253 in its 125-run defeat. The match referee for the game Chris Broad had expressed his concern about the pitch to the ICC. Richardson and the ICC's chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle, relying on Broad's report, the SLC's response and video footage from the game, then made their decision.

"We have come to a decision that the pitch prepared for the match should be rated as 'poor'," David Richardson, the ICC's general manager for cricket, said in a statement. "It was clear from the video footage of the match that the amount of turn, especially early in the match, was excessive and there were occasions (even on the first day) where the ball went through the surface of the pitch, bouncing unusually steeply from a good length.

Sri Lankan Premier League to go ahead without India

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka Cricket will push ahead with its inaugural premier league with Australian and Pakistani players, despite a no-show by Indian stars, the island's sports minister said Sunday.

"We will lose a bit of money because Indian players are not coming but the tournament will be played as planned," Mahindananda Aluthgamage said after failed talks to bring the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on board.

Fast bowlers Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel were among 12 Indian players who were blocked by the BCCI from playing in the T20 tournament in Sri Lanka from July 19 to August 4.

PCB may stop Afridi from playing in SLPL

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said it can ban Shahid Afridi from participating in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) if the former Pakistan captain doesn't stop his rants against the board. 

Earlier this month, the PCB granted Afridi a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to play for Hamp shire in English Twenty20 league after their bitter dispute was settled out of court.

But Afridi's continued tirade has irked the PCB and some top officials are not in favour of granting him an NOC to play in SLPL to be held in Colombo during July-August.

Quoting an unnamed PCB official, Express Tribune reported on Thursday that the Board will not hesitate in taking action against Afridi in case of 'foul play'.

Afridi, after a long stand-off with the PCB that also involved a legal battle, finally left for England to play for Hampshire after getting his NOC back.

Sri Lanka Cricket rejects BCCI claim of Lanka Premier League being a private tournament

 Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has rejected the Board of Control for Cricket in India's claim that the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) is a private-party organised tournament.

In a statement, the SLC said that the SLPL is owned and approved by it, and therefore, automatically by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

It further said that the Singapore-based Somerset Ventures only owns the commercial rights to the tournament.

The SLC rejoinder came a day after the BCCI had said it would not allow any Indian player to participate in the tournament on grounds that it was a privately-run event.

"This tournament is approved by SLC. And Somerset are the marketing arm, having won the rights through a tender process. Nobody can say it is owned by Somerset," ESPNcricinfo quoted SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga, as saying on Sunday.