English cricketers to play in Lanka after Indian ban
View(s):More than a score of English County cricketers will move to Sri Lanka to engage in the local domestic tournaments, after the BCCI banned them from training in India.
The county players, with the exception of those from Durham, will go to Sri Lanka instead.
At present there are approximately three foreign players turning out in the current Premier League Tournament. They are Greg Smith from England who turns out for Leicestershire, opening batting for Lankan CC, Noor ul Haq an Afghan off spinner who is one of their national players playing for Kurunegala Youth CC and Rizwan Akbar who turns out for Rawalpindi turning out for the Chilaw Marians.
When inquired about the English cricketers moving to Sri Lanka, Ashley de Silva, Director Cricket operations SLC told the Sunday Times that he was aware about the development, but so for the ECB has not contacted the Lankan counterparts officially. He added “Sometimes these cricketers come through travel agents as a unit. Then if they contact us we give them games with our development squads. However the ECB has shown interest in a player exchange programme with Sri Lanka Cricket even in the past. As a policy ECB encourages their cricketers to acclimatize in the Indian sub-continent conditions. According English Newspaper the Daily Mail the Indian cricket board had banned a group of county cricketers from training in the country following the 2-1 Test series defeat by England.
The English Newspaper accused the BCCI showing more of their famed pettiness by not allowing around 30 players from Yorkshire, Durham, Kent, Hampshire, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire to further their cricketing education, say the Daily Telegraph.
The board is thought to be annoyed that Joe Root had vast experience of Indian conditions before his superb Test debut in Nagpur.
But by employing so many foreigners in the Indian Premier League, whose sixth auction was held yesterday in Chennai, India have been helping international rivals for years.
By contrast it bans its centrally contracted players from appearing in English county cricket. -SRP
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