Controversial former captain Angelo Mathews has told his employer Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)against whom he rebelled over a pay dispute, that he wants to get back into the team.
Mathews was one of more than 20 players who reportedly took a rebel stance over pay in their annual contracts and was singled out by the legendary record setting bowler Muttiah Muralidaran as being one of the architects of the dispute that threatened to disrupt an important tour of England in June.
But in a media statement SLC said Mathews was only “relieved of his national duties for personal reasons.”
“Former captain Angelo Mathews informed Sri Lanka Cricket that he is available for selections for the upcoming tours. Accordingly, with immediate effect, Mathews will join the squad’s training at the High-Performance Centre, focusing on future international tours.
“He was relieved from national duties during the month of July 2021, following a request made by the player, owing to personal reasons,” SLC said in its media statement.
The statement did not say whether Mathews had signed the new contract or not.
Like most players Mathews had his previous annul Retainer fee slashed from Rs. 23.5 million by half in the new contracts advocated by another retired legend Aravinda de Silva who is the current chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket Committee and who declared that payments have to be based on on-field performances.
Under the new contract scheme, besides the retainer fee, players are entitled to Rs.1.5 million for playing a Test match, Rs. 1 million for an ODI and Rs.800,000 for a T20 game when converted from US dollar rates.
Currently it is confirmed that Sri Lanka will play 10 Tests, 14 ODIs and 10 T20s in by-lateral series tours from this December to December 2022 apart from tournaments.