Sri Lanka cricketers threaten early retirement after SLC introduces new grading system

The last few years have been difficult for Sri Lankan cricket as they struggled across formats and lost one series after another. In fact, Sri Lanka changed as many as nine ODI captains in the last five years, with Kusal Perera being the latest one at the helm. Now, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) faces another problem as many of their players are not happy with the new grading system.

Cricketers in Sri Lanka have reportedly threatened SLC that they will retire prematurely after a new points-based grading system was introduced that will determine their annual salaries. As the new system will have a major impact on their earnings, the players have demanded more transparency on what basis they are being graded.

Sri Lankan players want transparency from SLC

As per a report, the new system will see players being categorized into four different groups on the basis of their fitness, discipline, performances in international and domestic cricket in the last couple of years. Leadership skills and overall value to the side will also be a benchmark while dividing the players.

Hence, cricketers in the Island nation want the board to reveal how the points are allotted so they can understand the process and work on their skills accordingly. “Each individual player very correctly believes they are entitled to a disclosure on the points allotted which categorized their ranking,” Nishan Sydney Premathiratne, the player representative in the SLC contract negotiations, was quoted as saying by The Sunday Times.

“Transparency would also create unity and harmony. All players are in unison seeking this information. Transparency is paramount so that the players also know how they were assessed and what weaknesses they need to address,” he added.

Speaking on the matter, Ashley de Silva, part of the Sri Lanka Cricket Management Committee, said that the new norms are being created after making amendments that their players asked for. “The players have appointed a lawyer and they wanted certain amendments to be done in the agreement which our lawyers have done. Now we are in the process of sharing it with the senior players. So far nobody has said that they are not going to sign it,” said De Silva.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka national team is currently in Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series. This will be Kusal Perera’s first assignment as a full-time ODI skipper, and he’ll want to make a mark. The series gets underway on May 23.