Cricket: Sri Lanka players end pay row

cricketers sign new contracts and make themselves available for the two-Test series against Bangladesh.

COLOMBO: A pay dispute between Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and its 23 centrally contracted players ended on Monday with the cricketers signing new contracts and making themselves available for the two-Test series against Bangladesh starting on Friday.

The SLC and Sri Lankan sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had threatened to drop the 23 senior players if did not sign the new contracts by Monday.

“Twenty two out of 23 players have signed the contracts which makes them available for the selection for Bangladesh Test series,” SLC chief executive officer Ajith Jayasekera told Reuters. “The selection committee met (on Monday) and the team is in the process of approval.”

Former captain Mahela Jayawardene, who is abroad, was the only player who did not sign his contract.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2013.