The Sri Lankan Cricket board has allowed its players to give the IPL “priority” over their tour of England.

This decision is a huge reality check for all the cricket boards across the globe without the sufficient funds to match the pay cheque offered by the IPL, or rather, the BCCI.

The Sri Lankan players in the IPL include their biggest stars: captain Mahela Jayewardene (pictured), wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara, record holding off-spinner Muthiah Muralidaran, and swashbuckling batsman Sanath Jayasuriya.

The recent contract dispute between the board and its players was resolved just yesterday, and it seems the board’s agreement to let the players play in the IPL instead of turning up in national colours played a big part in the players’ agreement to the contract.

The SLC, it was reported by ESPN, paid a retainership fee of US $15,000 per year to its players, the lowest among all Test-playing nations.

In such a scenario, it is quite clear why the SLC swung to the players’ demands.

Lack of sufficient financing (its wages are reportedly lower than what county teams offer) and the lucrative offers from the IPL mean that if SLC hadn’t agreed to its players’ demands, it could have faced a huge backlash, with the possibility of the players staging a walk-out from the national squad—a scenario faced by the West Indian Cricket Board a few years ago, which saw the likes of Lara protest due to a conflict between the player sponsors and the team sponsor.

While the ICC had promised a “window” in its international schedule in order to make the players able to play in the IPL without having to miss national duty, its need is felt more than ever right now.

With the ECB beginning to face demands from its players as well, this may just be the beginning of a huge shake-up in international cricket!

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Contact: Shawnpady
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