Cricket: Sri Lankan players refuse to sign new contracts but ready to feature in England tour

Seniors crickets of Sri Lanka has refused to sign new contracts within the latest deadline (June 3) provided by the cricket board on Saturday, however, they agreed to play in the upcoming tour of England.

ALSO READ:Cricket: Jamieson dismisses skipper Root on the very first ball of the day - WATCH

According to a lawyer representing the players, the cricketers have not agreed to the new contracts that are based on performance.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

"Players refused to sign annual and tour contracts until the pay dispute is resolved," lawyer Nishan Premathiratne said in a statement.

"Even when players are refused pay, they will play for the country because that is their main objective," it added.

Sri Lanka are set to travel to England for three one-day internationals and three T20I matches.

Earlier, Sri Lanka's top cricketers, including Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews, refused to sign central contracts offered by the country's cricket board citing a lack of transparency in the manner in which categories of the contract have been allocated.

According to Sri Lanka Cricket, they offered 24 of its leading players contracts under four categories and that they had been given a deadline until June 3 to sign. As per these categories, six players come in the highest Category A, where they receive an annual pay ranging between $70,000 and $100,000. In this category, Dhananjaya de Silva will receive the highest pay ($100,000), whereas, other players will receive $70,000-80,000 each.

Sri Lankan players issued a joint statement and said that they were “shocked and dismayed” by the SLC’s decision to go public with the specific payment details of players. “These disclosures amount to a grave security concern to each and every player,” they said in the statement.