Lankan cricketers may skip SLPL over contract dispute

Colombo: Leading Sri Lankan cricketers may skip next month`s inaugural edition of Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL) if the SLC fails to settle the national team players` central contract.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene has said that they may decide against taking part in the inaugural season of the league if the Sri Lankan board doesn`t "settle" the players` central contracts. Several national as well as international players have been selected to take part in the tournament, scheduled to be held in August. "We will only sign SLPL contracts once the central contracts of Sri Lanka players are settled," Jayawardene said. "We discussed it about a month ago, before the Pakistan tour. I hope we can sort it out within the next few days," he was quoted as saying in `ESPNcricinfo`. Sri Lanka Cricket president Upali Dharmadasa had assured that the issue over the national team contracts will be resolved before the end of this month. PTI