By Revatha Silva (Photo Indika Handuwala) Sri Lanka Cricket Twenty20 League 2018, named SLC T20 League 2018, was launched in Colombo on Friday, 17 August. The tournament will feature the country’s best 70-odd players who have been divided into four teams, namely Team Colombo, Team Dambulla, Team Galle, and Team Kandy. Team Colombo will be led by Dinesh Chandimal and the Dambulla, Galle and Kandy teams will be led by Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, and Angelo Mathews respectively. The league will be held in three venues, at the R. Premadasa, Rangiri Dambulla, and Pallekele international stadiums, as both day games and night games, before the grand finale, which is scheduled for R. Premadasa under lights, starting at 7 p.m. on Sunday, 2 September. “The tournament will provide a great opportunity for our emerging, young players to mingle with our best. A year ago we had plans to stage an international premier league event during the same period that we're now having the SLC T20 League. But now we hope to have that league, with the participation of overseas players, next year,” said SLC CEO Ashley de Silva at the launch of the SLC T20 League, held at the Hilton Colombo Residences, Friday morning. “We are thankful to the International Cricket Council for allowing us to have this window so that we could slot in this T20 League for the next five years amidst their heavy Future Tours Program (FTP),” de Silva added. The winners and the runners-up of the SLC T20 League will receive a cash prize of Rs. 2 million and Rs. 1.5 million respectively, de Silva further revealed. Tournament Director Sajith Fernando said he expected fans to come in numbers to watch the matches as entrance for all matches will be free of charge. "The best players in the country are in action in conditions that are close to international standards. I expect the crowds to come in numbers," said Fernando. Meanwhile Eric Upashantha, who represented the national selection committee at the tournament's launch on Friday, said the players were picked for the T20 League keeping in mind the event is held in the shorter (T20) format of the game. "We had to leave out a couple of seniors to give space for some youngsters. We need to allow four under-19 players to come in to the four teams. Our main intention was to give enough opportunity to the youngsters," Upashantha clarified. Related articles:

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