July 12, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 8, 1429

LONDON, July 11: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday it is unaware of any possible plans by Sri Lanka to change the dates or send a second-string team for next year’s tour amid a standoff with players over its timing.

Sri Lanka agreed earlier this week to tour England in place of Zimbabwe next May for two Tests and three One-day Internationals, but players have complained that it would cause them to miss most of the lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition.

ECB spokesman Colin Gibson said Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had made no requests to his organisation.

“We’ve heard nothing from Sri Lanka at all,” Gibson said.

The Sri Lankan players, many of whom have signed three-year contracts with IPL franchises, asked Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa to intervene on their behalf when they met him on Wednesday on their return from Pakistan after winning the Asia Cup.

“We are trying to adjust the dates, even to shorten the tour or send a second team,” SLC Chief Executive Duleep Mendis said on Friday. “I don’t know if they’ll agree to play a second team.”

Talks between Sri Lanka Cricket and the cricketers’ union ended on Thursday without an agreement being reached.—AP