Sri Lankan first class players to stand up for their rights

Sri Lanka's club cricketers officially formed a Sri Lankan Players Association last night after a well-attended meeting at the Taj Sumudra Hotel in Colombo. All first class players in Sri Lanka were invited to the meeting.

Earlier attempts to form a similar `Association' failed due to a lack of support by some senior players and because of differences of opinion with the Sri Lankan cricket board.

However, senior players have led the way in this present initiative and Thilanga Sumithipala, the BCCSL President, has given his seal of approval.

It was decided that the national captain and vice captain would automatically become the President and Vice President of the Association. The Secretary and Treasurer will be appointed at a later date but Pramodya Wickramasinghe is tipped to become the Secretary and thus the spokesman for the Association.

Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Mahinda Rajapakse, UNP Member of Parliament, Navin Dissanayake, and former Sri Lankan captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, were all made Patrons.

Sanath Jayasuriya objected to the Players Association being called a trade union: "This is not a trade union. The intention is not to fight with the board but to do something to help the players, both past and present."

The players are particularly concerned about the plight of first class players in Sri Lanka. A national player said: "We have to look after the club cricketers who do not represent the national team. They have to struggle really hard and need to be given better support."

In addition, there is a feeling that the domestic tournaments need to be radically re-structured to improve the standard. The players favour a premier tournament, which contains eight to ten sides rather than the present 18.

They argue that this would prepare the players better for international cricket and would increase the level of interest in the domestic game and thus help attract greater sponsorship revenues.