England tour on track despite contract stand-off, Sri Lanka Cricket confirm
Sri Lanka’s tour to England will go ahead as scheduled despite the ongoing contract stand-off. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) CEO Ashley de Silva confirmed the same, revealing the board had already given assurances to the England Cricket Board.
Sri Lanka are slated to tour England for three T20Is followed by three ODIs, starting from June 23, with their departure scheduled for June 9. Many believed the tour was in doubt after the players refused to sign their contracts ahead of the departure date.
Ashley de Silva has since refuted such claims, providing the latest update while speaking to Daily FT.
“Some have said that the tour is in jeopardy, not at all. We are going ahead with the tour. We have also given that assurance to the ECB (England & Wales Cricket Board) that we are going ahead with the tour,” Ashley de Silva said.
Sri Lanka players had earlier refused to sign their annual contracts, as the ugly tussle between the board and its players continued. Players have slammed the board for an alleged lack of transparency in their central contracts, with Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Perera and 23 others releasing a strongly-worded statement.
Amid the public spat, the SLC CEO confirmed Sri Lankan players will travel to England after signing a special tour contract. Ashley de Silva stated that going for a tour without an annual contract in place is “not a major issue”, detailing what the contract will entail for Sri Lanka players.
“Going on a tour without a tour or annual contract is not a major issue, it’s a kind of binding between two parties. The binding is they will go on a particular date and return on a particular date. They will comply with certain requirements of both SLC and ECB. There is an MoU which we sign where there are a few obligations which we have when you go on a tour. I don’t think we will deviate from those obligations. When they go on a tour without signing, they will get all the benefits, their insurance, their perks, clothing, everything will be done,” the SLC CEO explained.
Payments not an area where we have gone into: Sri Lanka Cricket CEO
With the tour contract being starkly different from an annual contract, it is believed that Sri Lanka players will miss out on a significant portion of their payment. But Ashley de Silva remained coy on the subject, reiterating that the matter had not come for discussion.
“When it comes to payments, there are audit queries now which will affect the players. Those are the areas which we have to look into and to get certain advice very clearly on how we are going to do all that. It’s an area we have not gone into and even thought about. The tour agreement is almost the same, maybe one or two things may change related to the binding to the agreement which they were going to sign. Other than that, the rest of it is the same,” Silva added.
While Sri Lanka Cricket seems confident about the England tour, it remains to be seen how the players will respond to the terms of the tour contract.