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Atapattu allowed to quit, Jayasuriya to make his case
#98 - 0--emndb--Atapattu allowed to quit, Jayasuriya to make his case--2007-08-08 09:48:13
#Marvan
Atapattu was yesterday released from his contract with Sri Lanka
Cricket effectively ending the former captain’s commitments
with the team in the future.
Atapattu,
who made his debut against India in Mohali in 1991, scored 5,330
runs from 88 Tests besides making over 8000 runs in one-day cricket.
“We
have granted him (Atapattu) his request and he is no longer available
for selection to the Sri Lanka team”, a Sri Lanka Cricket official
said yesterday. - In
a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket Atapattu requested that he be released
from his contract which would enable him to decide what is best
for the remainder of his playing career.
He
reportedly fell foul with the cricket establishment after he was
left out from playing a part at the recent World Cup despite being
a member of the squad.
But
many observers saw Atapattu virtually retiring from Sri Lanka cricket
after he made himself unavailable for the recent Bangladesh home
series in a virtual tit-for-tat reply to the cricket administration.
Atapattu
was one of just six players with an 'A'-graded contract which was
to expire in March 2008.
He
is currently playing for the Lashings World XI in England for a
contracted fee.
Michael
Vandort is being tipped to secure the slot held by Atapattu.
Meanwhile
in another development veteran batsman Sanath Jayasuriya according
to a source at Sri Lanka Cricket is contemplating seeking a temporary
release from his contract that would make him accept a 500,000 US
dollar job with the Indian Cricket League for a series of 20-20
matches.
It
is learnt that Jayasuriya is hoping to put forward the case of Atapattu
who was permitted to skip the Bangladesh tour for a stint with the
Lashings team in England.
In
his case Jayasuriya could either skip the five-match one-day series
against England in October or Sri Lanka’s two Test matches
in Australia in November.
“If
he (Jayasuriya) makes a request (to be released) we will have to
look into it”, said a Sri Lanka Cricket official.
Jayasuriya
is reported to have been offered 500,000 US dollars to play in the
Indian Cricket League for a three-year period while Atapattu has
been offered 400,000 to play in the six-team 20-20 series which
is targeting some of the big names on the international scene.--comments-->16--243--2
