Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Uva Next were crowned champions in the inaugural season of the SLPL

The Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) has been terminated for a second year in a row in favour of a shorter Twenty20 tournament.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) decided to abandon the tournament again after they failed to gain enough commercial interest.

In 2013, each SLPL franchise was terminated after they failed to pay the participation fee three weeks prior to the start of the tournament.

“Since terminating the contracts of seven franchise owners we have tried to revive the tournament, but there has been no response from the promotions partner,” SLPL director Ajit Jayasekara told Ceylon Today. “Beside there’s no window left due to South Africa’s visit in July and Sri Lanka A team’s tour of England later that month.”

After the SLPL was cancelled last year, SLC created the Super Fours tournament, which was won by the Kandurata Maroons, who went on to play in the Champions League Twenty20.

“We are in the process of organising the Super Fours on a grand scale this year,” Jayasekara said. “Obviously there will not be any foreign players, but we will have all local stars – the national team and the A team players in action. It can be a short tournament – we can finish it in about six to eight days.”

However, Jayasekara stated that he remains committed to resurrecting the SLPL.

“We have to go through a fresh process – getting advertisers and getting people to apply for franchises,” he said. “That is a time-consuming thing. We’re hoping SEV will come up with a plan – maybe for a scaled down version – and try to revive the SLPL.”