Sri Lankan cricket tournament
The Lanka Premier League (abbreviated as LPL; Sinhala: ලංකා ප්රිමියර් ලීග්, Tamil: லங்கா பிரீமியர் லீக்) is a professional franchise cricket league established in 2020 in Sri Lanka. Matches are played using the Twenty20 cricket format by five teams named after Sri Lankan cities.[3][4] The league was intended to commence in 2018, but repeatedly postponed by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).[5] The inaugural edition took place in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of 2023, there have been four seasons of the tournament.[6] The current title holder team is B-Love Kandy, who won the 2023 Lanka Premier League by defeating Dambulla Aura in the final.[7]
History
The first season of the league was initially planned to be held from 18 August to 10 September 2018,[5][8][9] but this was postponed multiple times due to administrative issues within Sri Lanka Cricket.[10][11][12] In June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, SLC announced the tournament would start on 28 August 2020,[13][14] with 70 overseas players showing an interest in playing in the league.[15] In August 2020, Ravin Wickramaratne, the Vice President of SLC was officially appointed as the director of the tournament.[16] After being rescheduled due to pandemic related restrictions, the first season began on 26 November 2020.
In May 2022, Samantha Dodanwala was officially appointed as the LPL tournament director.[17] The third edition was scheduled to take place in August 2022, but due to the ongoing Sri Lankan economic crisis and the resultant 2022 Sri Lankan protests, was postponed despite the player draft having already been held.[18]
Organisation
Player acquisition, squad composition and salaries
In the league's first three seasons, teams chose players using a draft system, having previously had the opportunity to sign a limited number of players directly.[19] For the 2023 season, an auction was introduced. Each franchise was allowed to directly sign two local players and two overseas players ahead of the auction. Each franchise operated with a salary cap of US$1 million, US500,000 of which could be spent on direct signings with the remaining spent in the auction.[20]
Governing Council
Sri Lanka Cricket, which is responsible for all elements of the tournament, established a governing council to administer the league. Members of the governing council include Sri Lanka CEO Ashley de Silva. The marketing and organisation rights to the LPL were awarded to an Indian-owned Dubai-based company, Innovative Production Group (IPG) in 2020.[21]
Finances
The inaugural edition of the league reached a cumulative audience of 557 million through TV, digital-social media and traditional media.[22] According to the 2021 Annual Report of Sri Lanka Cricket, The league generated revenue of LKR334 million in 2020, LKR463 million in 2021, LKR839 million in 2022.[23][24]
Source: Newswire.lk, June 2021
Criticism
Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe raised the issue of the need to regulate Lanka Premier League franchise owners and sponsors during the parliamentary adjournment debate on Sri Lanka Cricket's expenditure for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Some of the sponsors of the 2023 Lanka Premier League included gambling companies and unauthorized foreign exchange trading platforms. Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe claimed that B-Love Network, the owners of the Kandy franchise, is banned in Sri Lanka.[25]
Seasons
Out of the five franchises that have played in the league, Jaffna franchise has won three titles while Kandy franchise has won only one title. Jaffna Stallions won the inaugural season, defeating Galle Gladiators by 53 runs in the final.[26][27][28] The following season, Jaffna Kings beat Galle by 23 runs[29] and in 2022 defeated Colombo Stars by 2 wickets to win their third consecutive title.[30]
Finals
Team playing records
- As of 20 August 2023
Source: CricInfo[31]
Notes:
- Tie & W and Tie & L indicates the matches tied and then won by or lost by super over respectively.
