SLC, top players locked in bitter pay dispute

Colombo, May 22 (PTI): Sri Lanka’s leading cricketers led by Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne along with host of senior players, including Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews have refused to sign the central contracts offered by the board which they believe is far less compared to other countries. If the dispute is not sorted in due course of time, it could well affect Sri Lanka’s bilateral series with India in July, where six white ball matches is expected to fill the coffers of a cash-strapped cricket board of the island nation. A statement from the attorney representing almost all top players including the Test skipper Karunaratne, Mathews, Chandimal and others said remuneration proposed to players are one third compared to some other cricket playing nations as per Federation of International Cricket Association (FICA) report.