Lucrative SLC domestic season to begin on November 20th

The money-spinning and recently overhauled Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) domestic season 2015/16 will begin on the 20th of November with the commencement of the SLC Premier Limited Overs Tournament.

The Premier Limited-Overs tourney will run from the 20th of November to the 16th of December while the Premier T20 championship will commence on the 22nd of December with the final being scheduled to be played on the 24th of January. The most-important domestic competition, the Premier League 3 day Tournament will commence during the first weekend of December and will be played till the end of February.

The top 14 teams have been drawn into 2 groups in each format and the first-round will be played in a league-format. The Premier League 3 day tournament will have two stages, firstly the group stage and later Cup championship and Plate championship. The limited-overs formats will see the top four teams reaching the semi-finals and the winners will fight it out in the finals.

AIA Insurance has come forward to sponsor the whole domestic season as the men behind the scenes are expecting a change of fortunes in the Sri Lankan domestic circuit after this season.

With the recent revisions by the SLC Interim Committee, a Sri Lankan first-class cricketer has the opportunity to earn up to Rs.1 Million per annum, if they play all the matches in a given season (Including the SLC Elite Championship/Zonal Tournament).

It has been the aim of SLC over the years to professionalize cricket in order to make it a livelihood and to raise the standards of the domestic structure. This overhaul has persuaded many young and aspiring cricketers to remain in Sri Lanka and participate in the domestic competitions this season rather than travel to Australia and/or England on a regular basis, to boost their income.

The new payment structure is as follows:-

Premier Limited-Overs Tournament – Rs. 7,500/- per day
Premier League Tournament – Rs. 7,500/- per day
Premier T20 Tournament – Rs. 7,500/- per day

Recently, Sri Lanka Cricket declined to issue NOCs to as many as 17 contracted players to play in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in order to protect the quality of the Premier Limited Overs tournament, and to help ensure Sri Lanka’s clubs have their best players available to them during the season.

Another special feature of this year’s domestic season is the 2nd XI tournament where the second-string teams of all 14 clubs have the opportunity to give their bench warmers some game-time in order that they may stake a claim for a spot in the top-team or at least play more cricket during the coming dry season.

Last year’s Premier Limited Overs Championship was won by the Colts Cricket Club when they defeated Sinhalese Sports Club in the final by 56 runs. Ragama CC’s Lahiru Milantha was the tournament’s leading run scorer with 304 runs in 7 matches while left-arm seamer Nilanka Premarathne from the same team topped the wicket-taker’s list with 15 scalps.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority Cricket Club, led by Ashan Priyanjan, lifted the biggest prize of the season, the SLC Premier League Trophy when they overcame stiff competition from the Nondescript Cricket Club in a fiery battle for the top-spot. The new star of the Sri Lankan team, Milinda Siriwardana earned his place in the national team through this competition where he amassed 1144 runs in 10 matches for Badureliya Sports Club with an impressive average of 67.29. League winners’ left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara bagged the most number of wickets: 70 scalps in 10 games.

Milinda led his little-known Badureliya outfit to their first-ever major domestic title when they upset cricketing power house Sinhalese Sports Club in the SLC Premier T20 final. Danushka Gunathilake of SSC made a staggering 295 runs from 8 games while Badureliya SC’s right-arm fast-bowler Kasun Rajitha picked up 19 wickets to become the leading wicket-taker of the tournament.

Galle Cricket Club were promoted to the top league this year when they won the SLC Emerging Trophy last season. Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club was relegated after a forgettable 2014/15 season.

SSC, NCC, Tamil Union, Ragama CC, Moors and Colts have the strongest teams on paper but teams like SL Army, Badureliya and Bloomfield may pose a severe threat to the star-studded clubs in the forthcoming months.

Premier Limited-Overs Tournament – 2015/16

Premier League Tournament – 2015/16

Premier T20 Tournament