by Rex Clementine

Former Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu in a letter to the Cricket Board has requested that he be relieved of his contract ending weeks of speculation that he had signed up with the rebel cricket series to be conducted by ESSEL Group in India. Atapattu is the first Sri Lankan to join a host of other stars including Brian Lara, Shane Warne and Glen McGrath.

At present, the 37-year-old is in England playing league cricket for Lashings and had sent the letter to SLC CEO Duleep Mendis on Friday informing him of his decision to quit, a cricket official told ‘The Island’. This means, Atapattu will be unavailable for the series against Australia and possibly England.

Marvan will lose his lucrative Sri Lanka Cricket contract to the tune of US $ 100,000 and other benefits such as match and tour fees. Atapattu was one of the six highest paid cricketers of the Board along with Captain Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuryia and Muttiah Muralitharan. Chaminda Vaas and Kumar Sangakkara are the other two players in the top tier of US $ 100,000.

Although Atapattu had not indicated retiring from international cricket, his career would almost come to an end with the cricket board showing concern at the private tournament to be played in October to cater to the massive Indian television audience.

Some Boards of other Test nations have taken a hard stance of not considering any player who joins the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) for international games. Sri Lanka Cricket’s stance was not quite clear and the Board will be taking a decision on Thursday when the Interim Committee meets.

Financially of course, the former Sri Lankan captain will be up on the deal as he’s believed to receive a sum of US $ 300,000 for a series of Twenty-20 matches that will be played in various cities in India.

Nuwan Zoysa, a prominent member of the Sri Lankan side a few years ago, is also likely to join the ICL along with retired batsman Russel Arnold. The name of leg-spinner Upul Chandana too has been speculated as a possible recruit to the ICL.

Meanwhile former Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya denied claims that he too is about to join the ICL. "I am contracted to the Sri Lankan Board and my focus is on representing my country," Jayasuriya told ‘Sunday Island’ from Vatican, where he’s holidaying with his family.

Atapattu’s relationship with the cricket establishment has remained strained ever since he was benched during the entire World Cup tournament. He was overlooked for the short ODI series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, but was recalled for the three Test series against Bangladesh, which he declined.

Atapattu was not picked for the initial pool of 30 named for the Twenty-20 World Cup, but the selectors insisted that he was very much in their plans for the tour of Australia where his experience as a top order batsman would have been vital against the World Champions.

ICL organizers said that six teams, each featuring four international players, two Indian stars and eight upcoming cricketers, will take part in the Twenty-20 matches.

The ICL will be expanded to one-day cricket later.

The proposed league, which carries a winner’s purse of one million dollars, is reminiscent of the late Australian TV mogul Kerry Packer’s World Cricket Series that took on the establishment in 1977.

Packer roped in the world’s top players for the rebel series after being denied official TV rights by the Australian Cricket Board for matches played in the country.

Similarly, Zee TV was rebuffed by the BCCI in 2004 despite being the highest bidder of 308 million dollars for Indian rights for a four-year period.

The BCCI cancelled Zee’s contract after rival ESPN-Star, a joint subsidiary of Disney and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., challenged the bidding process in court.