Champions League to benefit SLC directly

Sri Lanka Cricket will receive the participation fee for the Champions League Twenty20 directly, tournament chief executive Sundar Raman has said*. Most other participants are either club, provincial or franchise sides, but the Kandurata Maroons, who will represent Sri Lanka, are effectively an extension of SLC. As such, the board will be paid the US $500,000 fee.

"We are not concerned about whether it's a club or a franchise or the board, we will make that payment to whoever sends the representative team," Raman said. "In this case the board will receive it."

Sri Lanka Cricket had earlier planned to send the winning SLPL franchise to the Champions League qualifier, but after that tournament failed to materialise this year, a four-team provincial league was organised. The teams, captains and coaching staff for the eight-day tournament were appointed by the national selectors.

Kandurata players Kumar Sangakkara and Nuwan Kulasekara are also with IPL teams who have qualified for the Champions League. SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga, however, said the board would attempt to retain its players - Kulasekara in particular - for its own representative team.

"The preference is for them to play for their country," Ranatunga said. "The players are only entitled to play for their other teams if we release the players. If that call comes, we will try to get Nuwan to play for the Kandurata team."

If either cricketer plays for his IPL franchise, the IPL team must pay US $150,000 to the player's local team, and this money would also likely go to SLC. In 2011, Lasith Malinga and Suraj Randiv were required by their IPL teams, and did not play for their Ruhuna province, which also qualified for the tournament.