Sri Lankan officials head to India for T20 league talks

Colombo: Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials are hopeful that hastily arranged talks with their Indian counterparts will succeed in releasing players from that country to participate in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 tournament. On Sunday, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) advised its cricketers to steer clear of the tournament on the grounds that the SLPL was being organised by a private party based in Singapore. “Our secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and our chairman DS de Silva will be visiting India shortly today or tomorrow to have discussions with the Indian board,” SLC media manager Brian Thomas said Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_28832” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Sri Lanka Cricket officials will hold talks with the BCCI asking the board to allow Indian players to compete in SLPL.  Reuters”]  [/caption] Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment Ventures owns the commercial rights of the tournament. Internationals Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin and Irfan Pathan were among 12 Indian players seeking to participate in the July 19-August 4 tournament but the BCCI refused to grant them permission. “The Board’s policy is not to allow players to take part in private party-organised tournaments. We have already informed Sri Lanka Cricket about it,” BCCI president Shashank Manohar said. On Monday, Nishantha Ranatunga said Sri Lanka Cricket would have no financial burden on the tournament and the Singapore company would cover all costs. West Indian Kieron Pollard, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori are among the foreign recruits for the Twenty20 tournament modelled on the successful Indian Premier League (IPL). Cricket Australia to support SLPL Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has said it will not ban its players from taking part in the Sri Lanka Premier League Twenty20 tournament. According to The Age, Cricket Australia acting chief executive Michael Brown said he would discuss details of the tournament with SLC officials at the International Cricket Council’s annual conference in Hong Kong next week, but indicated it had CA’s “in principle” support. “We want to support Sri Lanka Cricket, like we want them to support us. We want their players to play in our Big Bash,” he added. Last summer, Sri Lanka blocked its players from playing in the Big Bash because it feared they could get injured and jeopardise the national team’s bid to win the World Cup. The SLPL will be played in Colombo and feature seven teams, each with up to five international players. The fact that Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka begins with limited-overs matches should preclude any CA-contracted players from participating. Agencies