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Lankan stars face pay cuts

Shocked by the country's defeat in the recently concluded series Down Under, the Sri Lankan board has mooted heavy pay cuts for its cricket stars.

Together with the cuts which, in some cases, work out to a hefty 30 per cent, the board plans to put in place a system of performance-linked incentives, in order to get the best out of its stars.

Lankan cricket board chief Dhammika Ranatunga indicated that fresh contracts would be drawn up for the players, ahead of the upcoming World Cup. However, Ranatunga said that while there was talk of cutting existing pay scales, no final decision had been taken in this regard.

Meanwhile, board chief Thilanga Sumathipala is out of station and unavailable for comment, though he did indicate in the immediate aftermath of the Lankan defeat in Australia that a drastic rethink into the state of cricket in the country would be undertaken soon.

Sumathipala also indicated that time could be running out on Lanka's beleaguered skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, with expectations now being that he will retire at the end of the 1999 World Cup.

Agencies