3 January 2024 11:11 am
By: M. Shamil Amit
The cream of talented cricketers in the island are expected to be in the fray and will represent five teams namely Dmabulla, Galle, Colombo, Kandy and Jaffna and the matches are scheduled to be played in five of the top grounds in the island, Sooriyawewa Stadium, SSC, Pallekele International Stadium, R. Premadasa Stadium and the refurbished Rangiri Dambulla Stadium.
With the Major Club limited over tournament in progress it was formally decided to conduct the NSL limited over tournament after the the completion of the Major Club limited over tournament but on a request made by the newly appointed selection committee it was decided to conduct the NSL four day tournament which will be followed by the NSL limited over tournament and the NSL T20 tournament.
The NSL limited over and T20 tournaments will be focused to select the Sri Lanka T20 squad for the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup tournament scheduled to be held in July 2024 which is jointly organized by USA and West Indies cricket boards.
All the Sri Lanka national players will be able to play in the NSL four day tournament as the limited over and T20 series against the visiting Zimbabwe team which will start on January 6 and with the curtain to come down on January 18.
The first week of matches are scheduled to be played from January 18 to 21with the final to be played from April 30 to May 3 and Dambulla who are the defending champions will seek to begin their campaign to retain the title for yet another year. Dambulla led by Minod Bhanuka came out victorious in the final last year with a comfortable 75 runs win over Galle in the final played at the Galle International Stadium.
The five member selection committee has selected the five teams for the NSL four day tournament and will be realesed in the near future.