Lanka Premier League 2023: The fourth edition of the Lanka Premier League will ge kicked off in July 2023 and the final of the tournament will be played in August, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed on Monday. The opening match in the tournament will be played on July 31 with the league getting over by August 22. Notably, this will be the first time that this tournament will be played during this period of the year.
"Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the conducting of the 4th edition of the Lanka Premier League from July 31 to August 22, 2023. The five-team tournament will be played in three international venues," SL said in a release.
The LPL was earlier played in 2020 for the first time but the tournament was pushed to December due to Covid-19. The second season was also delayed due to the second Covid wave and the third edition was postponed due to Sri Lanka's economic crisis in 2022. Notably, five teams will be in action for the event and three venues will host the cricket action. There will be a squad size of a maximum of 20 players with 6 overseas cricketers allowed to be signed.
"We have decided to hold the tournament during July and August this year, as conducting the tournament during this period gives us the best possible opportunity to attract top international talent and also suits well with Sri Lanka's international cricket calendar," LPL tournament director Samantha Dodanwela said.
Jaffna Kings have been the most decorated side in the LPL league as they have won all three of the previous editions. They defeated the Galle Gladiators in first two seasons of the tournament in 2020 and 2021. The Kings got the better of Gladiators by 53 runs in the final of the opening season, while they won the second final against the same opponents by 23 runs. In the last season of the tournament, Thisara Perera's side defeated Angelo Matthews led Colombo Stars in a nail-biter by 2 wickets.
