Reacting strongly on the sudden retirement decision of Sri Lanka’s white-ball batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Island’s cricket board has decided to provide No Objection Certificate (NOC) to ‘fast retiring’ players only after six months of their announcement, Cricket Age exclusively learns.
The decison was taken during the Excecutive Committee (ExCo) meeting on Friday.
“Players who wish to obtain ‘’No Objection Certificates’’ (NOCs) to play in overseas franchise leagues will only be issued to such players who have completed six months of their effective date of retirement” a top SLC official told Cricket Age.
The strong reaction from the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) came barely few days after it revealed that Rajapaksa and another shorter format International Angelo Perera have informed the board of their intention to retire from international cricket with immediate effect.
Bhanuka, a below average left handed top order batter, played 5 ODIs and 18 T20Is for Sri Lanka. Angelo, meanwhile, appeared in 6 ODIs and as many as T20Is for his country. A soild middle order batsman, with unmatched talent, Angelo was unfortunately couldn’t make an impact at international level. According to sources, he plans to migrate to USA, which contributed in his decision to retire.
In contrast of Angelo’s decision (as he was anyway not in the race for national team birth), Bhanuka’s sudden step has raised many eyebrows. According to sources, he suddenly decided to hang his boots due to the fear of failing in the Sri Lanka Cricket’s mandatory fitness test, before the upcoming Zimbabwe series. In his letter to SLC, he has himself mentioned that he won’t be able to pass the newly introduced fitness standard.
In this scenario, the SLC is the biggest loser! Even though Bhanuka could never justify his talent on field, country’s cricket board and national team’s coaching staff unconditionally backed him and even after his amateurish attempts to apply pressure for selection and outburst against former coach Micky Arthur through media campaigns, he was recalled and allowed to make a mark. Months after that backing, now he has decided to hang his boots.
In another strong move, the board has decided to make it mandatory for ‘retiring’ players to play at least 80% domestic cricket per season to become eligible for the participation in the cash-rich Lanka Premier League (LPL).
“Retired national players will be considered eligible for local leagues such as the LPL, only if they have played 80% of matches in the Domestic Cricket Competitions conducted in the season prior to the conducting of the league” top SLC official added.
It was also decided that players who intend to retire from national cricket should provide three months’ notice to Sri Lanka cricket of their intention.
“Well, we don’t want the LPL to become a hub of retired players. For Sri Lanka players, if they wishes to participate in the LPL, they will have to play in the domestic tournaments. Otherwise, they won’t be considered for the league” a top SLC official told Cricket Age.
