Sri Lankan domestic cricketers to get big pay hike

Sept 10, 2006 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's domestic cricketers will get a handsome raise in match fees for the coming season in a bid to make local competition more professional, a top official announced here on Sunday.







"We have a 300 percent pay hike earmarked for players in a new domestic competition for the 2006-07 season," K. Mathivanan, secretary of the Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee, told AFP.

He said each player competing in the new super premier league three-day matches would be paid 3,000 rupees (30 US dollars) per day.

"Each player will end up receiving around 1,400 dollars per season, up from around 400 to 500 dollars now," Mathivanan said.

He said the aim was to make first-class tournaments more competitive and professional so as to help domestic players prepare for international matches.

"The new tournament structure means fewer teams in order to ensure top quality and standards," said Mathivanan.

The league has been pruned to 14 teams from the current 20 and plans are being made to further reduce it to 10 in the 2007-08 season, he said.