Sri Lanka cricket crisis explodes as Angelo Mathews & Muralitharan squabble over contracts

Amid the team's poor run, the crisis in Sri Lankan cricket escalated after its seniormost player Angelo Mathews and Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne hit out at spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan. Mathews and Karunaratne were left out of the squad to play India in three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 games after they were excluded from the list of new performance-related contracts which cut the fees of players by up to 40 per cent. Some other members of the national team who were also at loggerheads with the country's cricket board since May finally signed the contracts after an ultimatum. 

In an interview with Hiru TV last week, Muralitharan had held Mathews, Karunaratne and two other players responsible for initiating the entire contract tussle and attributed Sri Lanka's dismal performance to the disturbed team environment. Addressing a joint letter to him on July 17, they refuted the notion that the only issue in the contracts was money. As reported by portal Island Cricket, it stressed that Muralitharan's comments were below acceptable standards of social norms and "unprofessional".

The letter stated, "We feel that you were not properly informed of the correct sequence of events, or was possibly given wrong information. Possibly by parties who wish to create a rift between the players and the administration and create disharmony. So, from the start of this program, you seemingly showed a great degree of dissatisfaction and hatred against the entire team and us, where we were referred to by name."

Mathews and Karunaratne added, "It is also unfortunate that you were not aware that all the players at this instance, stood also for 14 players who were not afforded contracts like Nuwan Pradeep, Aviska Fernando, Dilruwan Perera, Asitha Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksha, and a few others who had done reasonably well during the last two years. Avishka Fernando was one of the highest run-scorers in ODI’s in the material period. Is it fair for you to state, that no contract should be awarded to any player because they asked for transparency?" 

India eyes series win

The fortunes of the Sri Lankan cricket team have been gradually declining which is evident from the fact that it has lost 61 ODIs since July 2016 while winning only 26 ODIs in the same period. In the last few years, the captain of the ODI side has also been regularly changed with Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Karunaratne, Kusal Perera and Dasun Shanaka functioning in this capacity. On Tuesday, India is seeking to win the series after securing a thumping victory in the first ODI.