A truce seemed to be have been brokered between Sri Lankan cricket players and the cricket governing body in the country, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) as the players, earlier adamant at not touring England, have decided to pursue the tour. The reason for their change in action is supposedly SLC’s formal promise of making player evaluation marks available to each player when they return from the tour of England.
“This is the transparency the players had been requesting from the outset. They will play this tour without signing any contract. They have signed a voluntary declaration, but there's nothing there about player remuneration,” Players’ representative attorney Nishan Premathiratne was quoted as saying to ESPNcricinfo. They have always been committed to playing for Sri Lanka,” he added.
Another of the players’ main request is that they be judged only on performance and fitness. However, the technical committee which prepared the contracts judged all players on these two criteria but also included other criteria such as professionalism, leadership and future potential/ adaptability.
The Sri Lankan team will leave for England on Tuesday, June 8 and after the quarantine regime, will play the ODI and T20I series of three matches each, starting with the first T20I on June 23 at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.