ZCZC
BSP-15
CRICKET-SL-CONTRACT
Sri Lanka vows to win despite deadlock over contract
DHAKA, May 22, 2021 (BSS)—Sri Lanka captain Kusal Perera conceded that the ongoing deadlock with the cricket board over central contract “is a concern” but vowed not to let it affect their performance in the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh.
The series starts tomorrow (Sunday) with the first match at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The next two matches are on May 25 and 28 at the same venue.
The contracts announced by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) earlier this week saw the players introduced to a five-point grading system. The board also trimmed its list of contracted men’s cricketers to 24 from 32 last year, while introducing separate Domestic Development Contracts and Incremental Contracts to others not on the primary shortlist. The players are to sign the contracts.
“We don’t want to think too much about the ongoing contract issue with the board since we’re focused on the series at this moment. Yes, it is a concern for all of us but we’re hoping it will be resolved soon,” Perera said here today.
Perera is thrusted into the leadership role as the board opted for a young team, leaving out trusted campaigners like Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne.
Despite being the young and inexperienced side, contrary to the Bangladesh team who came up in the series with a full strength side, Perera refused to bow down.
He rather urged his new-look team to learn from their mistakes and learn from them quickly.
”Sometimes you need to get hit and learn from your mistakes,” said Perera, adding that they are aware that death bowling will be crucial for them.
“We have plans for our death bowling, but it’s important to keep in mind that that’s a role that you only get better at with experience. We can’t expect perfection from the start, our bowlers are new to this role so we need to have patience.
The series, which is the part of ICC ODI Super League is extremely important for both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Especially for Sri Lanka, it is more crucial than Bangladesh. With a score of -2, Sri Lanka is 12th and well outside the automatic qualification zone, after being whitewashed 3-0 by the West Indies in their only ODI series so far.
Bangladesh is in sixth position with 30 points after beating West Indies by 3-0 at home and losing the away series in New Zealand by the same margin.
“We know that one of Bangladesh’s strengths is their spin bowling attack, so we expect wickets to cater to that. I think our fielding has the potential to make a huge impact on this series,” Perera concluded.
BSS/SMP/AU/18:30 hrs