Saturday, 4 August 2012

New T20 league to give Sri Lanka global reach

The inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) represents a golden chance to showcase the island nation to the world, said one of the organisers of this month's Twenty20 tournament.

Sandeep Bhammer, chief executive of the little-known Somerset Entertainment Ventures group that has been given the rights to run the event for 15 years, told Reuters the SLPL would be beamed around the globe.

"Sri Lanka has come out of a 30-year civil war and the idea is to showcase the country to the world," Bhammer said in a telephone interview.

"It is the only country among the 10 test-playing nations that doesn't have its own version of Twenty20 and it is going to be televised in all the cricketing nations.

"We are a complimentary product to the likes of the Big Bash in Australia and the IPL (Indian Premier League), not a competing product," Bhammer added.

Seven provincial teams from Sri Lanka will take part in the August 11-31 tournament.

There are no players from India or England but several high-profile cricketers, most notably West Indies batsman Chris Gayle, Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, Australian paceman Ryan Harris and South African seamer Albie Morkel, will be involved.

Hard-hitting opener Gayle will be the highest-paid player on $100,000 while Afridi is to earn $50,000.

"We've got some of the best television platforms around the world," Bhammer said.

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