Lanka Premier League draft delayed again until October 19 due to COVID-19 outbreak

Sri Lanka's hopes of getting a franchise T20 competition off the ground continues to suffer problems after a spike in infections leads to a string of restrictions

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The Lanka Premier League has suffered another blow after the draft for the six-team event suffered another delay.

Squads for the five-team, 23-match event were due to be selected on Friday (October 9). Chris Gayle, Shakib Al Hasan and Ravi Bopara were among the players up for grabs.

But due to a new outbreak of cases of COVID-19, leading to a string of local restrictions, the draft will now take place on October 19.

A statement from Sri Lanka Cricket read: "The ‘Player Draft’ of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) which was scheduled to be held on the 09th October 2020 will not go ahead as planned, owing to the current health situation. 

"The ‘Player Draft’ is rescheduled to be held on the 19th of October 2020, whilst SLC will closely monitor the health situation leading up to the new draft date."

A number of fresh infections which originated at a garment factory in the Western Province has led to the closure of schools, bars and restaurants and a curfew placed on selected neighbourhoods.

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It was hoped that the inaugural Lanka Premier League, already moved from August, could be staged between November 21 and December 13.

The draft has already been moved from October 1 and 9. Sri Lanka have never successfully hosted a franchise T20 competition, despite several attempts.

The news of the latest blow to the tournament comes after Bangladesh postponed their Test tour of Sri Lanka after the two counties failed to agree on quarantine measures.

SLC wanted visiting players to self-isolate for 14 days following their arrival, which Bangladesh officials refused to accept.

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