SLC hope stars will tour England

Jayawardene: tough decision

I will talk to the players and see what best can be done. We are looking at the possibility of the players taking a short break from the IPL to tour England.

Duleep Mendis
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Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Duleep Mendis is aiming to persuade his country's best cricketers to tour England next year.

The trip is scheduled for April and May 2009 at the same time as the second edition of the lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition.

Sri Lanka's leading cricketers, including skipper Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, appear determined to honour their IPL contracts.

The players refused to attend talks with Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge and SLC officials on September 5 and instead sent Sri Lanka Cricketers' Union representative Graeme Labrooy. No final decision was made at the meeting.

"I have been asked to see how the matter could be sorted out," said Mendis.

"I will talk to the players and see what best can be done. We are looking at the possibility of the players taking a short break from the IPL to tour England."

The players are reported to have gone so far as to suggest they would resign in order to play in the IPL.

But Jayawardene refused to comment on the issue, telling the Daily Mirror: "We will make our decision known after discussing it."

Sri Lanka are due to play Tests at Lord's (May 7-11) and the Riverside (May 15-19), and one-day internationals at Bristol (May 24), Edgbaston (May 27) and Headingley (May 30) during the England tour.