Lanka Premier League 2021 to be played from December 4 to 23

The Sri Lanka Cricket board on Thursday, September 23 announced that the Sri Lanka Premier League (LPL) will be played from December 4 to 23. The registration of the overseas players is all set to commence from September 24. This will be the second season of the Lanka Premier League.

The tournament will consist of five teams, with each team having a 20 member squad. However, the squad will have 14 local players and the other six would be foreign players. SLC has made no announcements on the domestic season which was staged to start from September 5 but did not go ahead as per the plan.

The SLC was supposed to launch a new first-class format this season including 26 clubs in the league tournament. It was then planned to be divided into two groups with the group leaders playing a four-day final. The 26 clubs were also to feature in the limited-overs league tournament.

SLC also planning for Women’s T20 league

Earlier, it was reported that the SLC had been planning to host a women’s T20 franchise competition. The tournament is expected to have four teams and will be played across ten days. Dambulla or Pallekele are the two probable venues that can host the tournament within a strict bio-bubble.

The SLC has also been making efforts to attract overseas players and coaches for the tournament. SLC CEO Ashley de Silva opened up on the same and stated that even if the overseas players do not feature, the tournament will be taken ahead with the local players.

“Even if there are no foreign players, we will go ahead with the local players. As for overseas coaches, depends on the offers that we get in terms of franchise owners for the teams,” Ashley de Silva told ESPNcricinfo.

The Sri Lankan women’s cricket team has not been engaged in any high-profile series for long. The women’s team last took the charge of the field in the T20 World Cup in February and March 2020 and they have witnessed more than one international series been cancelled indefinitely. However, the team is staged to feature in the ODI World Cup qualifier which will be played in November-December in Zimbabwe.