Sri Lanka cricketers end battle for contracts

Colombo, July 18 (IANS) Sri Lankan cricketers have ended their battle against the authorities over signing of the contracts for the year 2012, an official said Wednesday.

"The contracts have been issued to the cricketers to obtain their signatures," Nishantha Ranatunga, secretary of the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said.

The cricketers' contracts were to have been signed before the end of March but delayed due to the disagreement over some of the conditions imposed by the SLC. As a result, since April the cricketers have been playing for the country without their contracts and their salaries, reports Xinhua.

Speedy action to issue contracts came following Sri Lankan players threat to boycott country's first premier league tournament, Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) which is to kick off August 11 with foreign participation.

Sri Lanka, the 1996 cricket world champion, has faced many debacles since co-hosting 2011 Cricket World Cup during which the SLC ran into debts up to $70 million for building two international stadiums and renovating one.

The SLC also had to borrow over $five million dollars from a state-owned bank to pay players' salaries.