Lanka Premier League awaiting health ministry guidance as start date looms

The franchise T20 competition is due to begin on November 21 but, as it stands, players arriving from overseas must spend a fortnight in quarantine ahead of the five-team tournament’s start date

Sri Lanka Cricket remain hopeful that the inaugural Lanka Premier League will go ahead but are awaiting clearance from the country’s health ministry.

The franchise T20 competition is due to begin on November 21 but, as it stands, players arriving from overseas must spend a fortnight in quarantine ahead of the five-team tournament’s start date.

“We are a little worried about this LPL, as the health authorities have not still granted us the permission,” Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Mohan de Silva told Daily FT on Monday.

“The cricket will take place only in Hambantota and Pallekele, where the players will go into a bio-bubble. They will travel from Mattala airport to their hotel and from their hotel to the ground and back again. All this has been planned and discussed earlier with the authorities, including the security, army and health. Most of the players taking part in the IPL are coming from bubble to bubble.”

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, however, tournament director Ravin Wickramaratne suggested that plans could be changed further, with the two-week quarantine proving a stumbling block for the current arrangements.

“The first option is to play the tournament across two venues in Sri Lanka – in Hambantota and Pallekele – but we might have to move the tournament back by about one week. The second option is to play it all in one venue, which will make the arrangements around a bio-secure bubble for players and staff more straightforward.”

A third possible option would involve the competition being played in the UAE or Malaysia, although that is not the preference of the governing body.

The Cricketer also understands that SLC are keen to push the possibility of a shorter, more flexible quarantine period, which would allow players to train within the tournament bubble after the first week of quarantine.

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