• National Super League Chairman Samantha Dodanwela 

The premier 4-day domestic cricket tournament, the National Super League (NSL) 2023, is currently in full flow. The Sunday Morning Sports had a chat with tournament Chairman Samantha Dodanwela about the tournament. 

Following are excerpts from the exclusive interview: 

You’ve been at the helm of organising big tournaments such as the LPL and NSL. What are the major challenges you face? 

These are two different tournaments. LPL is where players are picked through a draft process and it is a combination of top overseas players and locals. The NSL selections are done by the provincial selectors who have been appointed by Sri Lanka Cricket in collaboration with the national selectors. I also believe in accepting challenges and when you pick a good administrative team, challenges become easy to deliver. 

Many former cricketers claim that the competitiveness of the NSL is not that great due to the lack of National cricketers. Would you agree?

I do not agree. NSL is the feeder for national representation. NSL has been more competitive than the club tournaments as the cream of the top club players represent the five clusters in the NSL and as a result, competitiveness is very much greater.

If you may recall, many players who played in the NSL last year and delivered went on to represent the country not only at national level, but also for Sri Lanka ‘A’ and emerging teams. 

For example, Prabath Jayasooriya, who became the best bowler at the four-day format, went on to represent the country and even went on to create a record, taking 29 wickets against Australia in the Test series last year. Nuwinidu Fernando, who became the best batsman in the limited overs format in the NSL went on to represent the country and won the hearts of many selectors.

The cricketing fraternity believes that SLC should have concentrated on the 50-over format rather than playing four-day. Any comments on that?

All three formats – Test, 50 Overs, and T20 are equally important to any country. Our next series against New Zealand will commence next month with the Test series. Hence, the tournament committee decided to conduct the Red Ball Tournament as many of the players in the Test squad haven’t played any competitive Red Ball cricket since the conclusion of the interclub tournament last year.

How were the players selected for the respective teams? 

Twenty-six clubs playing in the major club tournament have been divided into five clusters. The top five clubs, namely SSC, NCC, CCC, Tamil Union, and Colts, are selected as centres of excellence considering the availability of infrastructure at their respective clubs. The selections are based on the performance of the major club tournament and decided by the provincial selectors with the consent of the national selectors.

What are the prizes for the winners and special awards? 

Winners – Rs. 5 million

Runners-up – Rs. 2.5 million

Player of the Tournament – Rs. 500,000

Best Bowler – Rs. 250,000

Best Batsman – Rs. 250,000

Do you think the NSL is the way forward in identifying players for the future? 

Yes, definitely. This is the premier domestic tournament in the country where only the best 75 players are picked based on their performance during the Premier Club Tournament for the different formats.

What are the future plans in cricket administration? 

I do not intend to explain about the administration but I will ensure to perform to the best of my ability, whatever responsibilities that are assigned to me, to ensure the ultimate winner is cricket. Also, as the Chairman of the Tournament Committee, I endeavour to conduct the competitions as per the tournament structure. 

How was your experience in organising LPL Season 3 and what can we expect this year? 

The tournament was a great success and the experience gained was something very special as it was my first event of this nature. We also witnessed the biggest ever-crowd at the Finals in a domestic tournament in the country. On a personal note, the biggest satisfaction I received from this tournament was the performance of some of the budding and emerging cricketers. This will no doubt help the selectors to pick the second string for the future. The LPL fourth edition will be played during July/August this year. Hopefully we will add one more team to the edition.