Are the SL covid numbers actually accurate Or are they going underreported?
Lanka Premier League
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06-08-2021, 12:37 PM
Media Release
08th June, 2021 Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to reiterate that the 2nd edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will be held during July and August 2021, as earlier announced. Accordingly, the tournament will be held from 30th July to 22nd August 2021. The inaugural edition of the LPL, Sri Lanka’s topmost domestic T20 league, with an international flavor, was conducted last year at the MRICS, Hambantota, with the participation of 05 teams. The inaugural edition received wide-scale attention, and millions of fans from across the world viewed the tournament via Television and, Digital platforms, with 135 million viewers watching the finals. The 2020 edition was held under a successful Bio-Bubble environment Health protocols for the 2nd edition of the LPL will be, planned based on the directions of the Ministry of Health. https://srilankacricket.lk/2021/06/lpl-to-be-held-in-30th-july-to-22nd-august-2021/ 06-12-2021, 05:57 AM
LPL 2021 to go ahead as planned in July-August
Hambantota set to remain venue this time too with SLC looking to put in additional covid-19 measures Madushka Balasuriya The second edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will go ahead as planned from July 30 to August 22, Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed, dispelling fears that the tournament may have to be postponed in the light of rising coronavirus cases in the country. "SLC wishes to reiterate that the second edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will be held during July and August 2021, as earlier announced," the board said in a statement. Sri Lanka has so far recorded more than 200,000 coronavirus cases - half of those having come in the past two months - and some 2000 fatalities. Since mid-May, strict travel restrictions have been imposed across the country, as efforts have been ramped up to curb the rising daily average of cases and deaths. Concerns over the LPL being hosted in July-August first arose following the postponement of the Indian Premier League earlier this year. Despite SLC's successful hosting of the inaugural LPL, there were growing doubts over SLCs ability to guarantee a secure bio-bubble for players and staff amidst the growing number of cases. "It's definitely going to be a challenge, there's no question," head of SLC's Medical Committee Prof. Arjuna de Silva conceded to ESPNcricinfo. "Last time we were in the middle of the second wave, but this time it's a totally different ball game with close to 100 deaths a day." SLC, for their part, have remained firm in their stance, assuring player safety citing the success of several inbound international series in the past year. De Silva also added that SLCs intention to hold all matches at a single stadium, the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota, and the fact that it was close to a scarcely used airport in Mattala, meant the LPL was less likely to suffer the same pitfalls as the IPL. "Our advantage is that we're fairly well versed in how to maintain a bubble now. I think in terms of international matches, next to England, I think we have hosted the most amount of foreign teams. "If you try to have it at more than one location that might start to cause problems, that's where the IPL also struggled I think. Of course in the IPL they had to also fly players to different cities, which complicated matters quite a bit, but even ground transport between different stadiums poses a certain amount of risk. "Hambantota is the ideal setup, it's isolated and the airport is also there." Further to this, SLC will also be able to enlist the assistance of the Sri Lankan Army - like they had done during the first edition of the tournament - which will provide an additional layer of security. "The Army is our biggest strength. They provide the security for the players and the bubble, something that would be very costly to do if we had to do it privately." De Silva also revealed that players, officials and staff will be subjected to additional testing this time around, though he does expect most, if not all, of the players taking part to be vaccinated by the time the tournament rolls around. "Everyone will be doing rapid antigen tests before they get on buses. We're also going to encourage all the players to be vaccinated prior to coming to play in the tournament. The entire Sri Lankan squad has already received the first dose of the Sputnik vaccine. "I don't foresee any major issues other than the the possible leakage of different variants into the country, because of so many individuals arriving from different countries. But we will be doing antigen and PCR tests on arrival, to identify potentially infective people early. "Other countries like England also allow sportsmen to come in, despite them being from red listed countries - it's a sports exemption - so that shouldn't be a problem." The inaugural edition of the LPL was won by the Jaffna Stallions last year, one of five teams that took part in the tournament. According to SLC, 135 million viewers across television and digital platforms tuned in to watch the final between the Stallions and the Galle Gladiators, with fan engagement through out the tournament generally quite high. SLC will be hoping for similar numbers this time around, though Sri Lankan fans hoping for live action will have to wait a little longer, with the tournament likely to once again be held behind closed doors. https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/lpl-2021-to-go-ahead-as-planned-in-july-august-1266031 06-15-2021, 10:40 AM
Sri Lanka cricket confirmed last week that the second edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will go ahead as scheduled from 30th July to 22nd August.
Speaking to DailyFT SLC CEO Ashley De Silva said that they are in the process of finalising all arrangements with the event holder Dubai-based IPG (Innovation Production Group). “We are in the process of making all the arrangements and having discussions with the event holder and we are trying to finalise the plans quickly as possible,” said De Silva. Last time LPL featured five teams, teams representing Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Jaffna and Dambulla. At the end of the last year’s edition SLC revealed their plan to extend this number to six including a team from Trincomalee. Despite the plans, SLC CEO said to DailyFT that they would stick with only five for the second edition also. Commenting on the venue for the 2021 edition, “With regard to the venue we are having some discussions internally, we need to also discuss it with our event holder before we decide on it. Most probably we would stick to Hambantota, which is one option. We have to take a decision on whether we are going to play the matches at two locations or one. If it is two, it will be at Kandy and Hambantota. If it is one, we will have to take a call on the venue,” he said. Speaking on reports on postponement of LPL due to COVID situation in the country, Ashely said “It was anyway initially planned to be held in July-August but we were wondering whether we will have sufficient time to get it organised. Our event holder they said that they are ready to go, therefore we took a decision to go ahead with the August window.” “The window that is available to us is July-August. That is the date we have reserved when we drew up our FTP (Future Tours Program). It is something which we have reserved for the next five years. When we discuss and schedule matches in the FTP we kind of keep that window locked down. We don’t schedule any games with any other country but keep it free for us to play the LPL,” continued De Silva. “We cannot be shifting it around whether all the overseas players are going to be available or not, we have to go ahead with it. There are so many players playing T20 cricket around the world so it is a matter of finding about 25 to 30 players. It is not difficult for us to get 25-30 good players to take part in this tournament. All the local cricketers will be available,” he said. “The player draft – we will outsource that operation for an organisation to handle it. But getting the confirmation of the players, SLC will do it. Talking to the international players will be done by SLC. We will then tell the event holder the players who are available for the player draft.” Last edition saw few big names including Chris Gayle, Lasith Malinga, Faf du Plessis pulling out from the tournament after the draft but SLC managed to find replacements and kickoff the tournament with 33 overseas players. http://www.cricwire.lk/2021/06/15/slc-reveals-more-details-on-the-second-edition-of-lpl/ 06-20-2021, 01:17 AM
LPL player registration to start on Monday
The five team tournament will be played in Hambantota in a bio-secure bubble starting July 29 Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will begin player registration for its marque domestic T20 league–Lanka Premier League (LPL) on Monday (June 21) with the player draft expected to be held shortly after closing the player registration on June 28. SLC recently announced that it would go ahead with the second edition of the tournament as planned from July 30-August 22, dispelling fears that the tournament may be postponed due to the rising number of covid cases in the country. Sri Lanka has seen a spike in the virus with daily cases now exceeding over 2000 despite maintaining a partial lockdown, increasing fears of a postponement of the tournament. But SLC is rolling out their plans to have it on schedule. “We will go ahead with the tournament as planned,” said Ravin Wickremaratne–SLC Vice President who was the tournament director of the first edition. “There were various suggestions from various quarters to postpone it but we are not keen to do so. We need to have the continuity of the tournament to win the confidence of the franchises and the sponsors.” SLC is yet to appoint a tournament director for this year’s edition with the Sports Minister indicating his intention of appointing a ‘committee’ to run the tournament. No such appointment is being made so far. “We are opening the player registration on Monday and will keep it open up until June 28. The players can register using our online portal. Thereafter, probably in the first week of July we will have the player draft,” Wickremaratne explained. The Dubai-based Innovative Production Group (IPG) owns the event management rights of the tournament after it agreed to pay SLC a sum closer to $ 2 million for each edition of the tournament. IGP on the other hand earned its money through franchisee payments which was around $ 600,000 and sponsorships. It is not clear whether the previous owners of the five franchises would come forward this time but Wickremaratne said the IPG is talking them. “Galle and Jaffna are on board and we are confident the rest of the owners will come forward this year too. Anyway it’s IPG’s responsibility and we are trying to make all the logistical arrangements to hold a successful event like we did last year,” he explained. Kandy, Dambulla and Colombo are the other three teams of the five-team tournament. SLC has decided to play all matches in Hambantota, as they did in the previous occasion, to ensure the safety of all those who are involved. “Initially, we were thinking of using three venues, but given the current situation, we are compelled to play it all in Hambantota. Logistically it’s easy for us to have the tournament there,” he explained. Meanwhile, the Cricket Technical Advisory Committee headed by Aravinda de Silva, who also functions as SLC’s Cricket Committee, have distanced themselves from this year’s tournament, given the little time they have to make any recommendations. “We have asked them to handle the tournament this year as we have no time to make any recommendations or come up with a new sustainable model,” said Aravinda de Silva, who believes the tournament needs a financially sustainable model. The Jaffna Stallions won the inaugural edition last year and, according to SLC, there was a massive following on television and other digital platforms. SLC said 135 million viewers watched the final between the Stallions and the Galle Gladiators across all platforms. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/210620/sports/lpl-player-registration-to-start-on-monday-446998.html 06-20-2021, 11:12 PM
https://srilankacricket.lk/2021/06/slc-announce-the-player-registration-process-for-the-2nd-edition-of-the-lanka-premier-league/
Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the commencement of the ‘Overseas Player Registration Process’ for the 2nd Edition of the Lanka Premier League starting from Monday 21st June 2021. The players can register their names via the registration portal established at the http://www.srilankacricket.lk on or before 12.00 pm of 27th June 2021. All registered players will be included in the LPL Player Draft, based on the eligibility. Draft Eligibility Overseas Players Overseas Players entering the LPL Player Draft should have represented their respective National Team, or played First-Class cricket, or should have taken part in a major T20 franchise base cricket in full member board tournaments. The players should also be recognized by the respective cricketing boards. Local Players Sri Lankan players will be drawn into the draft based on nominations by the National Selectors. Players representing the National, Emerging, Development teams and ‘A’ team, and also playing in the Major Club Cricket competition, are eligible for selections. Team Composition The 2nd edition of the Lanka Premier League will be held from 29th July to 22nd August 2021 and will consist of 05 teams, with each having a 20-player squad. A squad will consist of 14 Local and 06 Overseas Players. If necessary, a team can retain 04 players (02 local and 02 overseas) from the previous year’s squad, whilst the rest will have to be picked from the upcoming ‘Player Draft.’ 06-20-2021, 11:19 PM
Local icon players:
Colombo - Kusal Janith Perera Kandy - Niroshan Dickwella Galle - Dhanushka Gunatillake Dambulla - Dasun Shanaka Jaffna - Wanindu Hasaranga 06-21-2021, 07:07 AM
so Mathews has been dethroned.
Both Mathews and Chandimal played for Colombo. Kusal Mendis~the almighty, set to return on the 31st Jul 2022
06-21-2021, 01:46 PM
What they are doing to Mathews is unfair, he is still the best batsman in SL. I don't know why he is being isolated.
06-21-2021, 10:53 PM
Mathews has been unavailable lately due to family reasons. Don't know whether he will be available for LPL. He can still play in the LPL, dont have to be an icon player.
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