18 Sri Lanka players sign central contracts, Angelo Mathews excluded

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced its list of 18 members that have signed the national player contracts which came in effect from the 1st of August. Some of the main players that have signed the contract include Dhananjaya De Silva, Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka, and Kusal Perera. It has to be noted that experienced Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews was not considered for this contract as he is currently unavailable for selection.

It was only some times back that SLC was amid major controversy when many of their main players refused to sign new contracts which offered them incentives as per the performance. The cricketers who were protesting against the contract added that they were not properly briefed by the SLC regarding their pay system.

During their latest media release, SLC made it clear that the contracts are valid for a period of five months and will end on December 31, 2021. Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, and Niroshan Dickwella have not received the contracts due to the ban period they are serving which was imposed on them due to their breach of bio bubble protocols in England.

“The players signed the contracts without any deviation from the contracts offered previously, which was formulated by Sri Lanka Cricket along with the Technical Advisory Committee,” the statement by SLC read.

Sri Lanka have awarded national contracts to 18 players for a five-month period until 31 December 2021. pic.twitter.com/N7UhxVjMol

— ICC (@ICC) August 20, 2021

Here are all 18 Sri Lanka players who have signed the central contracts

“The players were chosen under four categories and were nominated by the Selection Panel, based on a set of criteria such as Performance, Fitness, Leadership/Seniority, Professionalism/Code of Conduct, and Future/Adaptability. The criteria and the allocation of points to individual players were shared among the players before they signed the contracts,” it added.

The players who have signed the central contracts are- Dhananjaya De Silva, Kusal Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Embuldeniya, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dushmantha Chameera, Dinesh Chandimal, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Ramesh Mendis, Lahiru Kumara, Ashen Bandara, Akila Dananjaya.

In the latest turn of events, it was also announced that Sri Lanka will tour Oman for two T20Is ahead of the T20 WC.