LPL 2023: Fourth edition to be played from July 31 to August 22

Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) on Monday, March 27, confirmed that the fourth season of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) would begin on July 31 and run till August 22. Interestingly, when the tournament was first planned, the governing body considered the July-August window to be the perfect one, but never in the history of the competition it has taken place during this time. Thus, if everything goes according to the plan, LPL will be played for the first time in these two months.

Meanwhile, similar to the previous season, the five-team tournament will occur across three venues, likely Kandy, Hambantota and Colombo. Regarding the squad strength, each team can sign a maximum of 20 players, out of which 14 need to be local while six other cricketers can be foreigners.

However, the Major League Cricket (MLC) tournament in the USA and The Hundred in England will run their operation at almost the same time, and thus, LPL franchises may find difficulty in signing top-quality foreign cricketers for the forthcoming season. Nevertheless, the organising committee hopes the tournament will be successful and explained the reason behind hosting LPL.

“We have decided to hold the tournament during July and August this year, as conducting the tournament during this period gives us the best possible opportunity to attract top international talent and also suits well with Sri Lanka's international cricket calendar,” LPL tournament director Samantha Dodanwela was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Interestingly, all three previous competition editions were postponed for various reasons. In 2020, COVID-19 pushed the inaugural season; in 2021, the second wave pushed it to November-December. Meanwhile, the third edition was postponed due to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. However, in all these three editions, Jaffna Kings have been the most successful franchise, winning the tournament thrice. 

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