Sangakkara Comeback Postponed Amid Contract Dispute

Sangakkara Comeback Postponed Amid Contract Dispute

Sri Lanka's hopes of fielding anything resembling a full-strength side for Friday's Test against Bangladesh are in jeopardy.

©REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte. Picture Supplied by Action Images

Kumar Sangakkara will now not return to action in the tour game against Bangladesh, which begins tomorrow, after being one of the 23 national players affected by a contract dispute with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

Sangakkara was due to mark his comeback from a hand injury sustained in Australia last year by playing for an Emerging Players side against the Bangladeshis ahead of the first Test on 8th March.

However, of greater concern is the risk that the Sri Lankan selectors, who meet tomorrow to decide on a squad for the first Test, will have to pick a second-string side for the Test match itself. Among those players involved in the dispute are Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga.

Following an emergency meeting held this evening between the players and the board, SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror, “We explained our position to the cricketers at the meeting. Though we have scrapped certain allowances of national players we still pay the players more than any other country so we cannot agree to any of the player demands. We told them that unless they agree to sign the present contracts, they will not be considered for Test selection.”

The 23 national players are believed to have been given until tomorrow morning to sign the contract otherwise they will not be selected in the squad for the first Test.

© Cricket World 2013