Key New Zealand players unavailable for SLPL

Sri Lanka have approached many players from New Zealand for talk part in upcoming Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) however none of their star players are going to be available.
The SLPL auction is going to be held from July 5 to 6, with contracts valued at $20,000 to $30,000.

Both New Zealand and India are scheduled to play a test series at the end of August, which has resulted in all of the Black Caps’ top players being unavailable.

Sri Lankan fans won’t see the likes of Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor who have featured outstandingly in India’s IPL tournament.

That means the likes of Michael Bates, Andrew Ellis, Ronnie Hira, James Franklin, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram and Tim Southee (if he’s not back in the test line-up) could come into contention to join the seven franchises that willplay six matches in a round-robin format.

Games are split between Colombo and Pallekele stadiums. Every franchise can have a maximum of 18 players, including six from overseas.

Earlier, it had been reported that India’s players too would be unavailable for the IPL-style tournament in Sri Lanka.

The inaugural SLPL gets underway on August 10. The tournament could also work as preparation for the World Twenty20 championship from September 18 to October 7.