Aravinda de Silva on Sri Lanka players protesting their new contracts: ‘They should win games and not complain’
The new payment system has created a bit of a divide between players and the board
“We discussed this matter in depth before we presented it to the players,” de Silva told Daily News. “Unlike in the past, we have increased the benefits three-fold than what it was but purely on the team’s performance… If they win a Test series, we pay them US$ 150,000 which was earlier limited to US$ 50,000. It has to be a collective effort by the whole team.”
De Silva, though, is only correct in a narrow sense about the incentives. This three-fold increase in incentive is only available if they defeat the No. 1 Test team in a series. There are far more modest incentives for beating lower-ranked sides. In fact, for teams ranked 6th and lower, the team would likely have earned higher sums under the old contracts.
The ODI series incentives follow a similar pattern – substantial increases on previous years for beating top-ranked teams, but more modest increases and sometimes decreases for defeating lower-ranked outfits.
De Silva did, however, correctly point out that: “We also introduced a slab for the T20 format, which also runs up to a maximum of US$ 50,000, which earlier didn’t have any rewards at all.”
The comments came after Sri Lanka lost the first two matches of the ongoing ODI series against Bangladesh, thereby surrendering the trophy.
“The most important fact is that they should get into the middle and play positive cricket and start winning games for the country rather than complaining,” de Silva said.
“This positive approach will encourage us to consider offering them more benefits, like some of the other countries in our region. If the team creates value, their incentives will also go up.”
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf
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