Sri Lanka Cricket to slash salaries if players won't stick to fitness guidelines

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has taken a major step in the direction of health and fitness by adopting a solid and substantial fitness test for the players. Earlier, in February 2021, SLC adopted the ‘2 KM Run Fitness Test’ replacing the old Yo-Yo Test to check the fitness levels of all the national players.

The test was introduced to determine the fitness and endurance of the players and make the selection accordingly. The Sri Lankan players were then required to complete the 2 KM run in 8 minutes and 35 seconds, it was later increased to 8.55 minutes, but the SLC has now reduced the time frame to 8 minutes and 10 seconds.

The reduction in the time period has been made by the board in a bid to ensure that the players are working hard on their fitness. Sri Lankan cricket has been in a transition phase since the retirement of legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene and has struggled a lot in recent years.

Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors Pramodya Wickremasinghe believes that the players should work very hard on their fitness which will ultimately help in achieving success. Thus, to ensure that players are serious about it, SLC will deduct a certain percentage of players’ salary if they fail to complete the fitness test under the given benchmark of 8 minutes and 10 seconds.

“If a player ran the 2km in 8.35 minutes in February, he should be able to do it under 8.10 minutes now. We want the players to really work hard on their fitness and we will not tolerate lapses in fitness,” Pramodya Wickremasinghe was quoted as saying by The Sunday Times

The first of the four fitness tests of the players will be held on 7th January 2022. All the contracted players will have to take the test in order to be eligible for national team selection.

Sri Lanka cricket chairman of selectors wants players to toil on fitness

Sri Lanka had a decent performance in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2021 wherein they finished at top in the group stage followed by a fourth-place finish in the Super 12 stage ahead of West Indies and Bangladesh. They bettered that performance in the home Sri Lanka vs West Indies (SL vs WI) Test series where they whitewashed the might Windies 2-0 to clinch a comprehensive series win.

“We have improved a lot in the past few months and we want them to improve it further in order to be more competitive. We don’t want any complacency from players when it comes to fitness. We need them to improve every passing day and this is why we have set new benchmarks. Besides the fitness test, we will also test their skills, to see whether they are ready to play,” added Wickremasinghe.

Image: AP