LNP – Cricketers sign tour contracts for India series

Sri Lanka’s top national cricketers have made themselves available for the home series against India this month after agreeing to sign tour contracts.

As part of the now protracted impasse between the players and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) over annual central contracts, national cricketers had even refused to sign tour-specific contracts ahead of last month’s tour of England, signing Tour Declaration letters instead.

However, SLC have taken a firmer stance upon the team’s return from England on Monday, giving them an ultimatum to either sign the tour contracts or risk being omitted for the Indian series altogether.

Several younger cricketers had already committed to signing tour contracts last night, with the rest following this morning.
The Daily Mirror learns that some of the players had also indicated a willingness to sign the annual central contracts, but that had been differed to a later date.

The issue with the annual central contracts stems from what senior players highlighted as a lack of transparency in the grading system used, among other concerns, with all 24 cricketers that were offered the contracts uniting in their refusal to sign those contracts.