| 2011 Sri Lanka Premier League | |
| Administrator: | Sri Lanka Cricket |
| Cricket Format: | Twenty20 |
| Tournament Format: | Round-robin and knockout |
| Champions: | Event cancelled |
| Participants: | 7 |
| Matches: | 24 |
| Next Year: | 2012 |
| Next Tournament: | 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League |
The 2011 Sri Lanka Premier League was a postponed Twenty20 cricket league. It was scheduled as the first edition of the new Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Sri Lanka, from 19 July to 4 August. It was postponed until 2012, which was held as the 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League, after problems due to allegations of corruption and incompetence by Sri Lanka Cricket. The Board of Control for Cricket in India had also decided not to allow Indian players to play in the tournament.[1] [2] [3]
The proposed tournament included seven teams representing the provinces of Sri Lanka. The teams were to be captained by six national captains and a former Sri Lanka vice-captain. The tournament was to feature over 30 international cricketers and be the first of its kind in Sri Lanka.
Unlike other cricket leagues, the Sri Lanka Premier League did not have city-based teams but instead provincial teams to allow an entire province to associate themselves with a team and thus create a bigger following for the tournament. Seven teams were established in seven provinces, with three being created in 2011. Aside from the Nagenahira Nagas and the Uthura Oryxes, each of these teams played in a previous Inter-Provincial tournament.[4] North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces did not have teams for the first season. Teams for all the provinces were limited to ensure competitiveness for the future.[5]
| Team | Province | Captain | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Basnahira Bears | Western | Tillakaratne Dilshan | |
| align=left | Kandurata Kites | Central | Kumar Sangakkara | |
| align=left | Nagenahira Nagas | Eastern | Shahid Afridi | |
| align=left | Ruhuna Rhinos | Southern | Sanath Jayasuriya | |
| align=left | Uthura Oryxes | Northern | Daniel Vettori | |
| align=left | Uva Unicorns | Uva | Chaminda Vaas | |
| align=left | Wayamba Wolves | North Western | Mahela Jayawardene |
All of the matches in the tournament were to be played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
| Colombo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R Premadasa Stadium | ||||
| Capacity: 35,000 | ||||
|
Sri Lankan national selectors and cricket authorities agreed to blood as many youngsters and almost 70 Sri Lankan cricketers would be registered in the seven team tournament. Almost all Pakistani national cricketers were invited to play in the SLPL. In addition to that International stars like Chris Gayle and the Bravo brothers (Dwayne and Darren), Herschelle Gibbs, David Warner, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Kevin O'Brien, Daniel Christian, Kieron Pollard, Daniel Vettori and Shaun Tait would have been seen in action on Sri Lankan soil. Salaries would have been lower than the IPL, with the highest at $30,000, with Shahid Afridi getting $35,000. Shoaib Akhtar was also included among the international players who took part in SLPL. But later on he has decided to pull out of SLPL for personal reasons.[7]
Shaun Tait Callum Ferguson David Warner Daniel Christian
Tamim Iqbal Shakib Al Hasan Shafiul Islam Mohammad Ashraful
Kevin O'Brien
Daniel Vettori
Umar Akmal Shahid Afridi Abdul Razzaq Imran Nazir Mohammad Sami Umar Gul Sohail Tanvir Wahab Riaz Misbah-ul-Haq
Albie Morkel Herschelle Gibbs Lonwabo Tsotsobe Makhaya Ntini
Manish Pandey Manoj Tiwary Paul Valthaty Ravindra Jadeja Saurabh Tiwary Umesh Yadav Vinay Kumar Yuvraj Singh Yusuf Pathan Munaf Patel Ravichandran AshwinAll 24 matches were planned to be telecast live to every cricketing nation.[11]