News

SL tweak domestic schedule ahead of World Cup

Sri Lanka have rescheduled their domestic calendar for the coming season in order to give their players ample match practice ahead of the 2011 World Cup

Sa'adi Thawfeeq
19-Sep-2010
Sri Lanka have rescheduled their domestic calendar for the coming season in order to give their players match practice ahead of the 2011 World Cup, which begins in February. Sri Lanka have only eight ODIs scheduled ahead of the World Cup, three against Australia and five against West Indies, but the new domestic calendar, which starts in December, gives them the opportunity to play more one-day cricket.
"We drew up the domestic schedule after discussion with chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva, coach Trevor Bayliss and SLC [Sri Lanka Cricket] secretary Nishantha Ranatunga," Ravi de Silva, the tournament committee chairman, said. "We have found out through past experience, and in consultation with the meteorological department, that the months of October and November have the highest rainfalls."
The major change to the domestic calendar is that no matches will be played in October and November. "We looked back at the past five years and a great majority of matches have been affected due to the bad weather," de Silva said. "We have decided to keep October and November free and give the cricketers some recovery time. This means the Premier League will be pushed back to January."
The limited-overs season begins with the Inter-club Premier tournament in the first week of December and ends with the Inter-provincial event on January 28, three weeks before the World Cup. The first-class Premier League (Tiers A and B) starts on February 20 and continues till April, running concurrently with the World Cup.