Possible logos for the team. One month to go and no official release. Or website at all.
I’ve been watching the developing Sri Lanka Premier League like a NASCAR race, waiting for a crash. After throwing hissy fits regarding the Indian Premier League, Sri Lanka decided to start its own. Never mind that the market is the size of one Indian city, the SLPL was going ahead. Or is it? Gavin from Island Cricket has a breakdown on ‘corruption an incompetence’ bringing the tournament to its knees. Presuming that it had feet in the first place.
Honestly, I think Sri Lanka should push for a team in the IPL. We have enough people to support that and one city (Colombo) that can serve as a base. Instead, we’ve started a whole nother league with regional teams that are regional in name only. They all play in Colombo. And no Indian players, because the whole thing is being managed by a dodgy Singapore outfit that they won’t sign with. And the only people that can afford to televise it are the new CSN network, headed by Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s girlfriend under a CEO who also happens to be Secretary of Sri Lanka cricket.
It all looks like a colossal waste of taxpayer money, for spite. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Cricket itself is crumbling under mismanagement. At a time when we have a mature and competitive team, the management itself is messing it up. Mahinda is recommending witch doctors that give steroids, the sons are involved with money-looping TV stations and what was a people’s game is now deeply corrupted by politics.
I doubt IPL will entertain teams outside India, ICL had teams from Lahore I remember before the BCCI bullied it out of existence. I think some sort of local T20 league is useful, there’s a lot of fringe talent that could use a stage, and club cricket doesn’t provide that.
It all depends on our relationship with BCCI. We can have one team for the Indian IPL in future as the travelling times are no different and conditions are similar.
We can have a further internal IPL from which we may be able to get some good talent if the prizes on offer are attractive. The possibility of attracting overseas players however now seems in doubt and until SL cricket gets its act together and is seen to be professional no one will look into SL to play IPL.