Sri Lanka cricket board set to make big financial gains

Colombo, July 8 (IANS) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the governing body of the game in the island nation, is set to make big gains financially from the white ball series against India staring here on July 13."We had initially finalised to host three matches. But after some negotiations with the Indian cricket board, we managed to increase the matches to six which will enable us to raise an additional US 6 million dollars in revenue," SLC president Shammi Silva was quoted as saying in the Daily Star newspaper. The report also said that the Sri Lankan board stands to earn US 12 million dollars from the six-match series. "SLC will be able to provide a large income to the country with Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa's vision of building a strong economy through sports," Silva, 60, said. "We missed out on several tours as scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet we did not reduce the monthly salaries and allowances of our cricketers," Silva said on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected Sri Lankan cricket finances. "None of their facilities were deducted either. In the face of this situation the cricketers should give out their best display to the country."The first ODI between India and Sri Lanka will take place on July 13.
--IANS nr/qma