LPL player draft likely in end June

By Shehan Daniel 

The player draft for the third edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will likely take place at the end of this month, Tournament Director Samantha Dodanwela said, after Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced that the tournament will begin on July 31.

The tournament will run for three weeks, the final taking place on August 21, with five franchises following the same format as last year.

“We didn’t want to increase the number of teams due to the time factor, but over the next few years we may add more teams,” Dodanwela told the Daily Mirror.

Franchises will select from a pool of roughly 240 players – 180 local and 80 overseas cricketers – which is a significant decrease from the 1,031 players SLC had previously said entered the 2021 LPL draft.

Questions were raised as to the nature in which some players were included into that draft, having little to no international, first class, or franchise level cricket experience, with their subsequent selection resulting in notable omissions.

It is situation that Dodanwela does not want a repeat of this year, saying, “I have informed IPG about this, and will emphasize this when I meet franchise owners next week.”

“Players will be picked on performances and merit, and the draft must do justice to the players.”

Among the local players already selected for the player draft are the 30 centrally contracted cricketetrs, the top performers from the National Super League and the Emerging Teams tour to England. 

Selectors would also keep an eye on players currently taking part the Sri Lanka A series against Australia A. 

The owners of three of the five franchises have fully committed to the upcoming edition, Dodanwela added, with the other two yet to confirm their involvement to the tournament rights holder The IPG Group.

IPG themselves were in the spotlight last year when there were suggestions that they had not met the financial obligations that came with their contract with SLC.

While he did not want to comment on the financial issues related to previous editions of the LPL, he added that he had held discussions with IPG and was confident they would meet the deadlines given to them.

“They have already paid 50 percent of what they owned and we are confident they will settle the rest by the deadline. I have reiterated to IPG that there needs to be transparency, and have requested for a upfront fee,” Dodanwela added.

Photo: The Jaffna franchise won the first editions of the LPL