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Sri Lanka Cricket has announced an overhaul of domestic cricket, which features three city-based tournaments that will be launched in the upcoming season.

Elite Championship teams

Colombo
Base: Khettarama
Catchment area: Western province
Major affiliated clubs: SSC, Ragama CC, Badureliya CC
Kandy
Base: Pallekele Stadium
Catchment area: Central Province & Sabaragamuwa
Major affiliated clubs: Colts Cricket Club, Moors Sports Club, Saracens Sports Club
Hambantota
Base: Hambantota Stadium
Catchment area: Uva Province and parts of Southern Province and Eastern Province
Major affiliated clubs: Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, Burgher Recreation Club, Army Sports Club
Galle
Base: Galle Stadium
Catchment area: Part of Southern Province
Major affiliated clubs: Galle CC, Nondescripts CC, Lankan CC
Kurunegala
Base: Dambulla Stadium
Catchment area: Northwestern Province, North-Central Province, Northern Province, and part of Eastern Province
Major affiliated clubs: Tamil Union, Chilaw Marians, Navy Sports Club

The 2015-16 season will also feature a four-day, 50-over and Twenty20 tournament based out of five regional hubs, in addition to the club-based premier tournaments which will continue as usual. The new city-based structure, titled the ‘Elite Championship’ aims to decentralise Sri Lanka’s cricket from Colombo, and distill talent to ensure a sterner level of domestic competition.According to SLC officials, the plan for the Elite Championship was “spearheaded” by Mahela Jayawardene. The interim committee, which took over in early April, has made the overhaul of the domestic system a priority of their administration, which is set to end in January – before any of the new tournaments are played. It is hoped the new structure will help better identify and foster provincial talent.”Today, the bulk of our cricketers are coming from the outstations,” SLC chairman Sidath Wettimuny said. “We’ve got to encourage these cricketers to remain in their home territory and play. Everybody doesn’t need to come to Colombo. We’re taking cricket out to them and providing them with what they need.”The five Elite Championship teams will be based out of stadiums in Pallekele, Dambulla, Hambantota, Galle and Khettarama, and will take the names of the nearest major urban centre (Kandy, Kurunegala, Hambantota, Galle and Colombo respectively).”Historically and geographically, these are the cities that have brought cricket to the level it is now,” SLC cricket operations manager Carlton Bernardus said. “The advantage also is that the facilities in these regions cater to the game.”By fielding only five teams, SLC aims to concentrate the talent in its domestic pool, in order to better prepare domestic cricketers for the international level. The Premier League first-class tournament, which features 14 club sides, has been criticised by players and administrators for being bloated, and as such, producing relatively-low quality cricket.Each Elite Championship team will be assigned SLC coaches and support staff. Romesh Kaluwitharana, Nuwan Zoysa, Piyal Wijetunge, Roy Dias and Avishka Gunawardene have been identified as head coaches for the five teams. SLC said it was also in the process of advertising for managers, and assigning trainers and physios for each side. The Elite Championship support staff will be advised and overseen by the national coaches in Colombo.Existing clubs have also been given an administrative role to play in the Elite Championship. The top clubs have been split into five clusters, each of which has then been assigned an Elite Championship side. For example, Sinhalese Sports Club, Badureliya Cricket Club, Ragama Cricket Club along with several other clubs have been clustered with the Colombo team.”We will get the support of the clubs and the district associations to run the tournament,” Bernardus said. “The tournament will tap into the facilities and infrastructure which the clubs have.”A new player-payments structure has also been announced for the Elite Championship tournaments. Seventy-five players (15 per team) will be signed up for these tournaments, and those who play will receive 20,000 rupees per day for the Elite Championship four-day tournament, 25,000 rupees per 50-over match, and 15,000 rupees per T20 game.The Elite Championship T20 tournament is set to be the first of the city-based tournaments to be played: it is scheduled from January 26 to February 5 – ahead of the World T20. The Elite Championship four-day tournament is scheduled for March and April 2016. The teams are scheduled to play a round-robin, before two sides progress to the final.The club-based Premier League Tournament is still set to take the largest part of the domestic calendar. That tournament features seven three-day group fixtures for each of the 14 sides, before the top eight teams split off to play four rounds of four-day cricket, known as the Super Eights phase. Club-based 50-over and T20 tournaments are also scheduled.SLC has sought to persist with the club structure instead of doing away with it in favour of the new tournaments for two major reasons. First, the clubs control much of the existing domestic infrastructure and facilities, including coaches, equipment and grounds. Secondly, the clubs also wield substantial constitutional power, via SLC votes.Any moves to marginalise the clubs would have effectively killed the city-based tournament at its inception. At any rate, with SLC elections scheduled for January, the clubs would likely have elected candidates promising to return the club tournaments to their historical place – as the centrepiece of Sri Lanka’s domestic season. Playing the Elite Championship after the Premier League tournament is seen as a sort of compromise.SLC has previously held provincial tournaments that sought to concentrate domestic talent. However, those tournaments had been administered directly by SLC, from Colombo. The Elite Championship aims to herald a greater devolution of power. It is hoped that district associations and the club clusters will administer the week-to-week affairs of each team, and that these teams will only be broadly overseen by SLC. It is also hoped that this devolution of powers brings with it grassroots support from fans in the various cities, as well as organic development of cricketers at each hub.

There have been three returns to football in the last couple of weeks – we all know about the ‘return of the king’ in Henry, who both scored and swore in his first two games back, and the coming out of retirement of Paul Scholes which caused a mixture of despair and jubilation due to downright blinkered love of the player, yet there was a third return this week to one of the very top clubs in English football – or they used to be  – Michael Essien made his long awaited comeback for Chelsea in the match against Sunderland and how much under pressure AVB will have been looking forward to this.

For a side who once had one of the very best midfields in Europe – in fact one so good that even the masters that are Xavi and Iniesta could not embarrass them – unlike each and every time they have faced United – Chelsea are now in vast decline in that area – well in all areas, and the once prolific Lampard is ageing and inexplicably out of favour, and Raul Meireles although not a bad signing hardly a world beater, thus the return of Essien who when fit is one of the best midfielders in Europe is better than any signing Abramovich could have presented AVB with – remember this time last year and Torres!

Essien provides Chelsea with not only the physical presence but pace, sheer ability and endless running from box to box – hence his nickname ‘the train.’ Add to this the potential to get goals and memorable ones at that, and Chelsea could well have just welcomed back the player who could clinch them the fourth spot and final coveted Champion’s League place this season.

There are of course lingering questions over the fitness of Essien, and three serious knee operations in recent memory are far from ideal, especially when you compare this to players such as Owen Hargreaves who has sent more tweets than made appearances on the field due to similar problems, there is of course the risk that the injury will reoccur or Essien will not be the player he once was – it will be here that the presence of Ramires will help Essien, alleviating some of the pressure on the Ghanaian to be that ever present running box to box midfielder, especially in the early part of his comeback.

However, AVB and Chelsea fans will not focus on this, just the fact that they have a fantastic player back in their ranks when they need him most – the club may even feel a sense of satisfaction that it is now and not a month ago that Essien made his comeback – he now avoids having to go to the African Cup of Nations and Chelsea do not have to lose his services for the best part of two months.

The versatility of Essien will also be welcomed, and the player himself has been called ‘one of the very best players in the league’ by manager AVB and we all know how fussy he can be when it comes to liking his players. It would take a brave person to suggest that Essien will not make a difference to the Chelsea side, and despite his return being the least publicised, it could well end up being the most vital of them all.

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Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti hopes his team can move to within three points of Manchester United with a win at Tottenham on Saturday.During their disastrous dip in form over the winter months the West London club were 18 points behind United at one stage, but have clawed back the deficit and are in touching distances of the champions-elect.

However, Ancelotti is aware beating Harry Redknapp’s side will be no easy task, with the North London club battling for a Champions League place in an attempt to qualify for the competition for a second year in a row.

“I remember when we were losing to Manchester United in the first half of the season – the gap between us and them was 18 points – so to be three points behind will be fantastic,” Ancelotti said.

“They (Tottenham) are involved in the fight for fourth place and they will do everything against us to close the gap on Manchester City.”

Ancelotti has a full strength squad to choose from ahead of the weekend’s game and his team seem to be firing on all cylinders once again with an unbeaten run that stretches back to February.

The Italian will also be relieved that 50 million pound striker Fernando Torres finally broke his duck with a goal against West Ham last Saturday, and has praised the Spaniard for his work with fellow front-man Didier Drogba in training this week.

“They trained well and make a good combination together – it won’t surprise me if they both start on Saturday,” Ancelotti said.

“Both players have great skill and ability and are able to play together. They may have to sacrifice something though to both play but they will help the team reach the right results.”

Manchester United must travel to The Emirates on Sunday to try and grab what could be a title winning three points, though Ancelotti hopes that Arsenal can do his side a favour by beating Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.

“I think that Arsenal will do their best to win because they are a good team,” he said. “Manchester City are close behind them which will be a good motivation for them.”

Everyone’s favourite financially savvy family are making a name for themselves again, following the news that four of the Glazers’ US-based shopping malls have fallen into default on their mortgages.

First Allied Corporation, a holding company for the Glazers’ business interests, owns 68 malls throughout the States. In June, four of these were found to have collapsed, with another one defaulting on its mortgage. Recently, however, four more have failed to pay their mortgages, becoming classified as “delinquent”.

Nine of the 68 malls are now, therefore, either delinquent or insolvent. What’s more, another 29 of these are unable to cover mortgage payments because of the number of empty units.

This news comes at a time when the interest on United’s payment-in-kind (PiK) debts is due to rise from 14.25% to 16.25%. Red Football Joint Venture Ltd, the company the Glazers’ used to buy United, recorded United’s total debts at £716million last year, all of which comes from the Glazers’ personal borrowings to buy the club in 2005.

The PiK debts had risen to £202million by June last year, amassing another £34million interest at 14.25%. Rather than being paid off, the interest accumulates, so £236million is now owed. With the increase in interest rate, £38million will be added over the next year, taking the total to £274million (unless some of the hedge fund debt is paid off).

The reason for the increase in interest rates in unknown, but it is thought that it is a penalty because their debts are over five times their basic profit.

David Gill, the chief executive, claims that the PiK debts are the Glazer family’s responsibility, rather than the club’s. It doesn’t appear, however, that the Glazers have the resources to meet these liabilities. Gill and the Glazers have consistently maintained that the club are not restricted by these debts, and Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that he has never been refused money for a transfer.

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Gill, or anyone else involved with the club, is yet to comment on this news. It’ll be interesting to see how he tries to put a positive spin on this one.

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Manchester United will take Juventus midfielder Milos Krasic on-loan until the end of the season to ease the pressure on their injury hit squad, reports Italian football magazine, Calcio.

The 27 year-old Serb has grown out of favour under coach Antonio Conte this season, appearing in just 7 of the Turin giants games and will be granted permission to leave on loan in January with Manchester being his likely destination.

Several other top European clubs including AC Milan and Chelsea have been linked with a move for the right-sided midfielder but Sir Alex Ferguson has been told he can take Krasic on-loan for the remainder of the season if he steps up his interest.

Ferguson previously told of how his side wouldn’t be involved in any dealings in the January transfer window as value for money is hard to acquire when managing a big club. But following a spate of lengthy injuries to his first-team, the latest being Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher , the United boss may be forced to enter the market to beef up his squad. Ferguson’s midfield has also come under fire this season for a lack of creativity and variation.

Krasic, who has a year and a half remaining on his current deal with the Old Lady, can provide United’s midfield with a different option and some added depth until the end of the season. His powerful dribbling and creative flair has led to the Serbian being compared with Juve legend Pavel Nedved.

Growing tired of warming the bench at Juve, Krasic is looking for a way out of Turin. His agent, Dejan Joksimovic, had this to say about his clients situation with the Serie A club a month ago, “His future depends on what happens at Juventus in the next months.

“If he starts playing regularly then he could stay in Italy. Otherwise, he will have to go.

Certainly he would move to a top division like the Bundesliga or the Premier League.”

Krasic’s position has failed to improve within the last month making his departure looking evermore likely. If Juve and United manage to come to a loan agreement in January, an option for a permanent deal will almost certainly be written into the contract with £15m being the expected buy-out fee.

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Article courtesy of Graham Duckworth of the Transfer Tavern

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It wasn’t until this week’s revelation that Roy Hodgson received compensation in the region of £7.3 million for being sacked by Liverpool’s new owners, Fenway Sports Group, that I acknowledged the level of expense Premier League chairmen have recently been prepared to outlay in order to remove their club’s manager. The contemporary trend of managerial pay-offs has been offset with a few cases where managers have maintained their terms of employment for longer than warranted because the price of relieving them of their position has been too costly. The benefits, other than those reaped by the deposed mangers, of this culture are not immediately obvious and despite a lack of public clarity in terms of football clubs finances, it is clear that managerial reparations have cost several fans the opportunity to enjoy new signings.

The financial damage caused by Hodgson’s departure implies that he earned £45,833 on each of his 192 days at Anfield and the former Fulham boss inflicted further pain on his old club by guiding West Brom to a 2-1 victory over Liverpool this weekend. However, Hodgson’s recently burgeoning bank account doesn’t represent the largest sum received by an ousted Premier League manager in the last three years. Chelsea parted with £12.6 million in order to jettison Luiz Felipe Scolari and his assistants in 2009, which was sandwiched in between the £3 million Sam Allardyce was awarded for leaving Newcastle in 2008 and Mark Hughes earned the same amount for being discarded by Manchester City.

In Fact, ‘Big Sam’ negotiated another £3 million pay-off when Blackburn announced his sacking last December and his aptitude for inducing widespread initial confidence and then forcing the need for an abrupt change worth millions highlights the inescapable incompetence affecting several Premier League chairmen. The evidence suggests some of the most successful managers of the current century have built their reputations on short stints at clubs and countries and the rewards they have delivered have far outweighed any subsequent negative influence.

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Jose Mourinho is generally considered to be the world’s most skilled at this type of managing and has never preserved his responsibilities at any club he has managed for longer than three years. Mourinho’s longest spell as manager was at Stamford Bridge where he guided Chelsea to 2 Premier Leagues, 2 League Cups and an FA Cup having previously led Porto to 2 Primeira Ligas, a UEFA Cup and a Champions League trophy during his two years at the Estadio do Dragao. Internazionale were the next club side to benefit from the Portugese’s charmed touch and achieved an unprecedented Italian Treble last season. Guus Hiddink embodies Mourinho’s international counterpart, having transformed the footballing foundations in Holland, South Korea, Australia and Russia with a four-month term at Chelsea yielding an FA Cup in 2009.

In my view, no manager should merit a contract any longer than two years for an international team because the nature of international competition dictates two-year schedules. Steve McClaren’s £2.5 million remuneration for failing to qualify England for Euro 2008 should have encouraged the FA to reassess their approach to managerial contracts but were unable to relieve Fabio Capello of his duties after last summer’s World Cup due to a clause inserted in his terms before the tournament invoking an immediate £6 million recompense for dismissal. If a manager’s performance is evaluated after every tournament then surely they should only be offered terms for the duration of the qualification period and the resulting competition?

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Club football provides a different framework and work-load but no chairman should feel compelled to place extortionate ‘confidence’ in a manager by offering them contracts lasting three, four or five years. It is always difficult to equate traditional employment conventions to those exercised in football but managers of any team in any league shouldn’t require more than two or three years to achieve the targets negotiated at the time of their appointment. The money Blackburn, Chelsea and Newcastle could have saved might have been used to reinvest in the playing staff – something all fans would favour. The Premier League’s wealth continues to grow in parallel to its chairmen’s incompetence but future managerial axe-wielders would do well to consider the true cost of impulsive confidence.

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To say the transfer window (so far) has been uneventful is tantamount to saying the Arctic is a bit nippy, as the majority of Premier League clubs are seemingly being careful with their finances. In some cases clubs simply have to sell before they can buy, much to the frustrations, no doubt, of many managers and supporters.

The lack of spending at the top of the Premier League has surprised many, especially given the open nature of last season’s title race. You would have thought the likes of United and Chelsea would have looked at a big outlay this summer, to ensure the also-rans remain at an arm’s length in their pursuits of the title. Only City have made substantial moves this summer, although you do feel that they may well struggle to strike a balance. This means this season’s race for the title, Champions League and Europa League places are very much as they were last year, unless we witness a major change in the transfer wind in the coming fortnight.

The media is predicting that a transfer storm is set to erupt, but it begs the question as to whether Liverpool really need to partake in some last minute shopping.

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Does Roy Hodgson really need to bring any players in before the transfer window shuts in 16 days time and if so who would you like to see him bring in?

After just two wins from 13 games and £25million worth of summer additions not making any impact on the Sunderland side, Steve Bruce was sacked by the Black Cats last week. Martin O’Neill was quickly appointed Bruce’s successor and there could be a huge change in the form at the Stadium of Light if O’Neill’s managerial history is anything to go by.

Sunderland sit just one point and one place above the relegation zone after another defeat on Sunday to relegation rivals Wolves. Bruce had failed to replace outgoing strikers Kenwyne Jones, Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan over the past year even though 12 new faces arrived at Wearside this summer. All areas of the team were added to but that failed to make a positive reaction in camp and a new era has now begun for the underachieving Black Cats.

New signings Nicklas Bendtner, Connor Wickham and Dong-Won Ji have failed to produce goals and Blackpool’s player of the year last season David Vaughan and former Birmingham City midfielder Craig Gardner have struggled to cement a place in the side. Defensively a group of Manchester United rejects seem to make up the back four and they have struggled to show any real defensive qualities up until now.

However, in O’Neill Sunderland have a top manager with an excellent record and I can see them climbing up the league significantly from now onwards. Some kind fixtures including games against Blackburn, QPR and Wigan on the horizon, I would fully expect possible maximum points from them key games.

O’Neill’s enthusiastic approach to the game and positive tactics, with out-and-out wingers and pacey strikers a tradition in his sides, along with big, powerful defences such as the one he left behind at Aston Villa.

The Black Cats’ bitter rivals Newcastle United enjoyed a superb start to their season under Alan Pardew and sat third just two weeks ago. A few bad, tough fixtures in a row and the Magpies have slipped to sixth after their 3-0 defeat at home to Chelsea on Saturday. They have scored one goal from open play in their last three games and have conceded seven. Yes they have had some tough games but there is now more pressure on them to break their winless streak at the weekend.

Pardew has some serious injury problems with Fabio Coloccini and Steven Taylor set for spells on the sidelines and Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheick Tiote struggling to get back to full fitness. With goals perhaps drying up and defensive problems, could we see Newcastle take a tumble down the league ladder in the coming weeks.

A large, talented squad at Sunderland could start to pick up points on the road and at home with a new manager and a new mentality it seems Newcastle are unfortunate that injuries have hit at the wrong time. Sunderland’s season starts now in the eyes of O’Neill and they must begin five wins behind their rivals in the North East. Expect attendances to rise at the Stadium of Light and some positive signings in the January transfer window to affect the team immediately.

Can Sunderland catch Newcastle this season? Yes I think so, but Pardew’s team are in the driving seat. O’Neill will certainly be pushing his squad up the table but how far can they get?

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England’s international week was reasonably satisfactory. A comfortable 2-0 win against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in qualifying for Euro 2012 was followed up by a 1-1 draw with Ghana in an exciting friendly at Wembley. England manager Fabio Capello was once again making the headlines, this time the Italian responded to criticism aimed at him for his difficulty speaking English by saying “you speak about tactics, you don’t use a lot of words. I don’t have to speak about a lot of different things. Maximum 100 words.” Here is Capello at training talking to Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere, Liverpool’s Andy Carroll, Manchester City’s Gareth Barry and Joleon Lescott, and Everton pair Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines. None of them look particularly enthralled, Baines in particular, but which of his 100 words of English is Capello using and what are the England players thinking?

Leave your suggestions below…

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Aston Villa's caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald has warned Manchester City that James Milner could yet feature in his side's Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna on Thursday.

England international Milner scored in the 3-0 weekend win over West Ham and is being lined up for further Villa action, with his move to Eastlands still far from certain.

MacDonald told the Daily Mirror:"I won't be naming a Europa League squad until Tuesday or Wednesday. James is a top player and if he's available, I will consider him.

"If we were going to stop him playing then we should have stopped him playing in the Premier League.

"I think there's probably more chance of him getting an injury in a Premier League game because of the physical contact.

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"So I just think if James hasn't gone to Manchester City by the middle of the week, I'm sure he'll want to play, because he just loves playing football as you saw out there against West Ham."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email