The Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardena is seemingly under fire from the authorities for voicing his thoughts in a local newspaper articles on the matter of not being given permission by Sri Lanka Cricket to distribute part of the guarantee fee due to the national side from the T20 World Cup, to support staff and ground staff. This request was turned down by Sri Lanka Cricket.
Following is a media release from Sri Lanka Cricket:
“The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket turned down a request made by the Captain of the National Team, Mahela Jayawardena, to distribute part of the guarantee fee due to the team from the World T20, to members of the Support Staff and certain ground staff, at its last meeting held on 12th December. The players are paid 25% of the guarantee fee as per their contract and it is not distributed among anyone other than the players, hence the reason for the Executive Committee to refuse to deviate from the standard practice. Certain sections of the media contacted the Treasurer to clarify exactly what happened and he had explained this process. Thereafter, when it was carried in an article in a local newspaper, Mahela Jayawardena made his concerns known to the SLC Office Bearers. The subsequent release of his views through the Manager, direct to the media is a breach of their respective contracts on the part of both the Captain and the Manager and this matter will be taken up for discussion when the Executive Committee next meets.”
However, in a letter to a local newspaper had stated that he has lost all confidence in Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) after his confidential letter regarding payment of guarantee fee to the team support staff from the ICC World T20 held here, was leaked to the media.
“As the captain of the national team I am disturbed and deeply disappointed that a confidential document handed over to SLC has been published in the Daily Mirror on December 19 causing much embarrassment to players and other staff members” Jayawardene said in a letter published today in the ‘Daily Mirror’.
The newspaper, on Wednesday, claimed that the Lanka cricket board had rejected a request from Jayawardene to allow sharing of the guarantee money derived from the recent T20 World Cup with the team management and support staff.
