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The ongoing dispute between Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and their players has continued to go from bad to worse as the players have refused to sign the contracts once again. The news comes as a major shock to the board who had postponed the deadline from June 3 to June 6 hoping for a positive outcome. However, the players have remained rigid on their stance after they had expressed their dissatisfaction on the new performance-based pay scheme.
Players will still continue to play for Sri Lanka
It is mostly the senior players who have been on the wrong end of the new pay scheme. While Angelo Mathews' annual fee saw a huge drop from $130,000 to $80,000 per year, Dimuth Karunaratne also had a pay cut of $30,000 per year. The players had criticized the new pay-plan and had termed it as 'non-transparent' as they also accused the board for violating confidentiality by publicly disclosing the proposed salaries of the players.
While the senior players have refused to sign the contract, even the duo of Dhananjaya de Silva and Niroshan Dickwella (who got the highest remuneration of $100,000 per year) have also surprisingly rejected the new pay deal. "Players refuse to sign annual and tour contracts until the pay dispute is resolved," lawyer Nishan Premathiratne said in a statement. However, he also confirmed that the players will still be available for the upcoming tour of England as playing for the country remains their main objective.
Sri Lanka could miss out on 2023 World Cup
The new performance-based pay scheme has been formulated with the help of former Sri Lanka skipper Aravinda de Silva and their new director of cricket Tom Moody. However, the players are certainly not happy with the same. The board would certainly be hoping to end the dispute as early as possible and shift their focus on cricket.
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The national side have been hugely affected with all the off-field events in recent times having just lost an ODI series against Bangladesh. They are currently reeling at bottom of the table of ODI Super League standings and if things continue like this, they might well miss out on a place in the 2023 World Cup which could be a huge blow for Sri Lanka Cricket.