Sri Lanka’s tour of England at risk – what are the possibilities?

June 6, 2021 at 1:03 PM


With just 3 days left till team’s departure to the UK for the English tour, 28 players, through their lawyer issued a statement yesterday (5) reiterating that they will not sign the tour contracts for the England tour as well.

With the SLC’s ultimatum to sign contracts (3rd June ) already passed and players’ latest refusal to sign the tour contracts, has seeming put Sri Lanka’s tour of England in jeopardy.

With the team set to depart on Tuesday (8) midnight, we looked at some of the possible scenarios which may transpire.

1. The England tour can very well go ahead as scheduled. As the players have insisted their availability to play for the country, despite a scenario where SLC refused pay them salaries based on the fact that they did not sign the tour contract. Easy as it sounds, it is not that straightforward. SLC will have it’s legal and procedural concerns regarding sending a bunch of un-contracted cricketers to England.

2. SLC and players still have another 2 days to sort out the dispute. As per sources, there are talks going on to see the possibilities of an interim solution. Also, the contract dispute can be worked out with the mediation of a 3rd party. This can very well be the Minister of Sports Namal Rajapaksha. It has to be reminded however that the Sports Minister is yet to approve the squad for the England tour. It is unclear of his stance on this feud between the administration and the players.

3. With just 2 days left for departure, the England tour may get postponed. If no consensus is reached or if the SLC stands firm and refuses to make any amendments to the player contracts or decide not to allow players to go on tour without signing a contract, this may very well be likely as there is not enough time to put together a team except these 28 players.

4. Another scenario that would have been possible in normal circumstances is that SLC can buy some time and put together a team which doesn’t include the protesting players. However, with Covid protocols in place where players have to be quarantined in both countries, this option is out of the equation. Even in normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be a feasible option as SLC would not want to send a weak team on an important tour such as England. It’s not only about Sri Lanka, the ECB also wouldn’t be very pleased to host a 3rd String SL side during their international summer.

In a similar sponsorship battle between the players and the board in 2014, the players famously walked out for practices in normal clothing, which caused issues to SLC with the official sponsors.

For the moment, let’s hope that the tour goes ahead as planned and an agreement might be reached between the board and the players, at least on the short term. Sri Lanka cricket fans are now left to see if a tour will take place or not, putting all the performance issues to rest – for now. (CricWire)