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Dilshan Madushanka creates history after becoming the most expensive buy at LPL Auction

Published

3 years ago

June 15, 2023

Editor

Left-arm paceman Dilshan Madushanka created history when he was sold as the highest bid for Jaffna Kings at the inaugural Lanka Premier League players Auction staged at Shangri-la hotel, yesterday.

An intense bidding war between Jaffna Kings and Galle Titans was seen for Dilshan Madushanka, with both teams bidding and counterbidding each. But it was clear that the three-time Champions Jaffna Kings wanted the 22-year-old at any cost and they succeeded when they eventually bought Madushanka for whopping 92,000 Dollars.

Among the other highlights picks at Auction was, Dananjaya de Silva who was the first player to be sold on the day for Dambulla Aura for 76,000 Dollars.

Dashing batter Charith Asalanka was also clearly in demand as a bidding war broke out for him as well. In the end, the star player was sold to Jaffna Kings for 80,000 Dollars.

The Auction, which had 51 rounds, focused on multiple talent options, such as batters, all-rounders, fast and spin bowlers, and wicketkeepers, with different segments for each criterion, such as capped batters, uncapped batters, etc.

Among the unsold list were some of the key players who are having experience in franchise cricket Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh ), Paul Stirling (Ireland), Najibullah Zadran (Afghanistan), Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe), Imad Wasim (Pakistan), Mushfiqar Rahman and Litton Das (Bangladesh), Ben Mcdermott( Australia), Tim Serfit( New Zealand), Azam Khan ( Australia), Andrew Tye (Australia), Fazalhaq Farooqi (Afghanistan), Jasen Behrandorff (Australia), Zahir Khan (India), Imran Thahir (Pakistan) were in the unsold foreign players list while Sri test captain Dimuth Karunaratne, Leg spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis and Shehan Jayasuriya who based in USA also among the unsold list.

The Five franchises were allowed to spend $500,000 at the auction.

Following are the players sold for five franchise teams yesterday.

Jaffna Kings:

Nishan Madushka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Asanka Manoj (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Theesan Vithusan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (Sri Lanka) – US$ 18,000, Pathum Kumara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Shoaib Malik (Pakistan) – US$ 50,000, Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka) – US$ 56,000, Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 80,000, Asitha Fernando (Sri Lanka) – US$ 28,000, Hardus Viljoen (South Africa) – US$ 30,000, Nuwan Thushara (Sri Lanka) – US $ 30,000

B- Love Kandy

Kamindu Mendis (Sri Lanka) – US$ 60,000, Asif Ali (Pakistan) – US$ 30,000, Navod Paranavithana (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Mohammad Haris (Pakistan) – US$ 20,000, Ashen Bandara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000, Sahan Arachchige (Sri Lanka) – US$ 28,000, Dushmantha Chameera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 70,000, Mohammad Hasnain (Pakistan) – US$ 34,000, Dinesh Chandimal (Sri Lanka) – US$ 72,000, Isuru Udana (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000, Chathuranga de Silva (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Nuwan Pradeep (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Lahiru Madushanka (Sri Lanka) – US $ 26,000.

Galle Titans

Sohan De Livera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Mohammad Shiraz (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Shevon Daniel (Sri Lanka) – US$ 22,000, Pasidu Sooriyabandara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Minod Bhanuka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Mohammad Mithun (Bangladesh) – US$ 20,000, Ben Cutting (Australia) – US$ 30,000, Ashan Priyanjana (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Sohan De Livera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Lasith Croospulle (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Lahiru Kumara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 42,000, Seekuge Prasanna (Sri Lanka) – US$ 15,000, Kasun Rajitha (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000

Colombo Strikers

Lahiru Udara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Dhananjaya Lakshan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Angelo Perera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Jeffrey Vandersay (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Lorcan Tucker (Ireland) – US$ 10,000, Iftikhar Ahmad (Pakistan) – US$ 50,000, Nuwanidu Fernabdo (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Shashika Dulshan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 6500, Eshan Malinga (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Lahiru Udara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Movin Subasinghe (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Nipun Dananjaya (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Lakshan Sandakan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 30,000, Wahab Riaz (Pakistan) – US$ 40,000, Niroshan Dickwella (Sri Lanka) – US$ 44,000, Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000.

Dambulla Aura

Pramod Madushan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 34,000, Dushan Hemantha (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Janith Liyanage (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Sachitha Jayathilaka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan) – US$ 50,000, Binura Fernando (Sri Lanka) – US$ 76,000, Sadeera Samarawickrama (Sri Lanka) – US$ 68,000, Hayden Kerr (Australia) – US$ 20,000, Kusal Janith Perera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000, Dhananjaya De Silva (Sri Lanka) – US$ 76,000, Lakshna Edirisinghe (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Shahnawaz Dahani (Pakistan) – US$ 20,000.

Dilshan Madushanka LPL වෙන්දේසියේ මිල අධිකම මිලදී ගැනීම බවට පත්වේ.

වමත් වේගපන්දු යවන ඩිල්ෂාන් මධුශංක ඊයේ ෂැංග්‍රිලා හෝටලයේ පැවැති මංගල ලංකා ප්‍රිමියර් ලීග් ක්‍රීඩක වෙන්දේසියේදී යාපනය කිංග්ස් වෙනුවෙන් වැඩිම ලංසුවකට ඉතිහාසගත අලෙවි විය.

ජැෆ්නා කිංග්ස් සහ ගාලු ටයිටන්ස් අතර ඩිල්ෂාන් මධුශංඛ වෙනුවෙන් දැඩි ලංසු තැබීමේ සටනක් දක්නට ලැබුණු අතර කණ්ඩායම් දෙකම එක් එක් ලංසු ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් ප්‍රති-ලංසු ඉදිරිපත් කළහ. එහෙත් තුන් වතාවක් ශූරයන් වූ යාපනය කිංග්ස් කණ්ඩායමට 22 හැවිරිදි තරුණයා අවශ්‍ය වූ බව පැහැදිලි වූ අතර අවසානයේ ඔවුන් ඩොලර් 92,000 කට මධුශංක මිලදී ගත් විට ඔවුන් සාර්ථක විය.

වෙන්දේසියේ අනෙකුත් විශේෂ තේරීම් අතර, දඹුල්ල ඕරා වෙනුවෙන් ඩොලර් 76,000 කට අලෙවි වූ පළමු ක්‍රීඩකයා වූයේ ධනංජය ද සිල්වාය.

දඩබ්බර පිතිකරු චරිත් අසලංකටද ලංසු තැබීමේ තරඟයක් ඇති වූ බැවින් ඔහුටද ඉල්ලුමක් ඇති විය. අවසානයේ මෙම තරු ක්‍රීඩකයා ජැෆ්නා කිංග්ස් වෙත ඩොලර් 80,000 කට අලෙවි විය.

පිතිකරුවන්, තුන් ඉරියව් ක්‍රීඩකයින්, වේග සහ දඟ පන්දු යවන්නන් සහ කඩුලු රකින්නන් කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කරමින් වට 51 කින් සමන්විත වූ වෙන්දේසිය, ජාත්‍යන්තර වරම් හිමි හා නොහිමි ක්‍රිඩකයන් යනාදී එක් එක් නිර්ණායක සඳහා විවිධ කාණ්ඩ සමඟින් මෙවර ලංසු තැබීම ආරම්භ විය.

වෙන්දේසියේදී කණ්ඩායම් පහට ඩොලර් 500,000ක් වැය කිරීමට අවසර ලැබිණි.

ඊයේ දිනයේදී ෆ්‍රැන්චයිස් කණ්ඩායම් පහක් සඳහා අලෙවි වූ ක්‍රීඩකයින් පහත දැක්වේ.

Jaffna Kings:

B- Love Kandy

Galle Titans

Colombo Strikers

Dambulla Aura

Cricket

Angelo Mathews sparks debate over England’s proposed Test tour reductions

Published

1 day ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

Former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has strongly criticised reports that England may reduce future Test tours of Sri Lanka to a single match, warning that such a move risks undermining the fairness and integrity of the World Test Championship structure.

According to reports, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is reviewing its Future Tours Programme, with discussions suggesting that overseas red-ball series against nations such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh could be trimmed to just one Test, alongside white-ball fixtures. The shift is being linked to scheduling pressures and a push to prioritise longer home series against top-tier opposition.

We should not play one off test with anyone! If any country doesn’t want to play more than one so be it! There’s nothing called bigger nations and test status is equal to all test playing nations .You can’t have 1 team playing 20 games and another playing 10 games in the same…
— Angelo Mathews (@Angelo69Mathews) May 9, 2026

However, Mathews has pushed back firmly against the idea, arguing that Test cricket must not be reshaped around commercial convenience or unequal participation between nations.
“We should not play one off test with anyone! If any country doesn’t want to play more than one so be it!” Mathews said, expressing clear frustration at the proposal.

He further stressed that all Test nations must be treated equally within the format, warning against creating an imbalance in match opportunities across the championship cycle.
“There’s nothing called bigger nations and test status is equal to all test playing nations,” he said.

Mathews also questioned the logic of restructuring series length while maintaining a unified global competition, pointing out the contradiction in workload and fairness.
“You can’t have 1 team playing 20 games and another playing 10 games in the same championship cycle!” he added.

His strongest criticism came when addressing the reasoning behind the proposed changes, which have been partly linked to revenue generation and broadcast appeal.

“Generating revenue and keeping test cricket alive is two different things and you should not mix up the two!” Mathews said, drawing a clear line between financial priorities and the preservation of the longest format.

The reported ECB discussions come amid wider debates within the International Cricket Council (ICC) over potential reforms to the World Test Championship, including proposals to expand participation and possibly allow single-Test series to contribute to standings for the first time.

The ICC is expected to review the proposals in upcoming meetings, with the future structure of Test cricket under increasing scrutiny as scheduling demands continue to grow across formats.

News

Sri Lanka Juniors Ready for Billie Jean King Cup Challenge in Kazakhstan

Published

1 day ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

Sri Lanka’s emerging tennis players are set to represent the country at the 2026 Billie Jean King Cup Juniors – Asia/Oceania under-16 Final Qualifying tournament, which will be held in Shymkent, Kazakhstan from May 11 to 15, 2026.

The prestigious junior competition will bring together leading teams from across the region, including Australia, China, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, and Sri Lanka, among others, all competing for regional supremacy and qualification progress.

Sri Lanka will be led by top-ranked junior player Annaya Norbet of Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya, who will take the position of number one player in the squad. She will be joined by Akeesha Silva of Newstead College, Negombo, selected as the second player, while Bovindee Jithsara from Bishop’s College completes the main trio.

Sandithi Usgoda Arachchi of Musaeus College has been named as the standby player, providing additional support to the team if required during the competition.

The squad will be coached by Anupa Maththamagoda, an experienced figure tasked with guiding the young team through the demanding international event.

Cricket

SLC Drops Social Media Follower Rule From LPL Season 6 Player Criteria

Published

1 day ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

Sri Lanka Cricket has revised the player eligibility criteria for the upcoming Lanka Premier League Season 6, removing a controversial requirement linked to social media popularity after widespread criticism from fans and members of the cricket community.

The latest edition of the LPL Season 6 Player Registration and Draft Guide, released as Version 1.5 on May 9, no longer contains any minimum follower count requirements for players registering under the Icon, Star, or Gold categories.

The change comes just a day after Version 1.4 of the guide drew backlash for introducing social media-based benchmarks alongside cricketing qualifications. Under the earlier rules, players in the Icon and Star categories were expected to maintain more than 250,000 social media followers, while Gold category players were required to have at least 150,000 followers.

The previous guidelines described top-tier players as individuals with strong commercial value and a significant online audience, prompting criticism that the league was prioritizing digital influence over cricketing merit.

Following the backlash, Sri Lanka Cricket removed all references to follower counts in the revised document while keeping the existing cricket-related qualifications intact. Players will still be assessed based on factors such as international T20 experience, franchise league participation, and recent competitive appearances.

The original social media clause triggered debate across online platforms, with many questioning the contradiction between the new LPL criteria and Sri Lanka Cricket’s past messaging encouraging national players to limit distractions from social media and focus on performance.

Critics also argued that a player’s standing in the tournament should be determined by achievements on the field rather than online popularity.

Although the revised regulations eliminate follower-based eligibility requirements, the LPL framework continues to place considerable importance on marketing and fan engagement. Players are still expected to participate in promotional campaigns, fan interaction events, media activities, and scheduled social media promotions throughout the tournament.