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Jayasekara is trying to do everything in his power to get the WICB to postpone the CPL

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have called on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to postpone the inaugural edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) to a later date in order to avoid it clashing with the second edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL).

The CPL is scheduled to begin on July 29 and run till August 26, while the SLPL is set to get underway on August 10.

SLPL director Ajit Jayasekara stated that the tournament cannot be delayed since the winners will play in the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) in the mid-September.

“There is quite a big overlap there, and because we announced our tournament last year and have set that window aside, we have asked the Caribbean Premier League tournament to move their tournament up,” Jayasekara said. “Those discussions haven’t started yet, but we are hopeful we can work something out.”

The scheduling issues were brought to SLC’s attention after Sri Lanka spin maestro Muttiah Muralitharan signed up for the CPL, but as of right now, there has been no word on which tournament he will prioritise.

West Indian big-hitter Chris Gayle also has a two-year contract with SLPL franchise Uva Next, but the contract does have an escape clause which will allow Gayle to play in the CPL if he chooses to.

According to Jayasekara, the SLPL’s organisers are in contact will several international players and many signings will be announced in the next few months.

Jayasekara also noted that more venues will be used during the 2013 SLPL after Colombo and Kandy were the only two venues used during last year’s tournament, which was won by the Uva Next franchise.

“We only had one production crew last time, but we have two this year, so that gives us more options,” Jayasekara said. “We are looking at Hambantota, Galle, Moratuwa and Dambulla as venues as well.”