The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Colombo

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene is urging competing national cricket boards to support a single Twenty20 world tournament to ensure the continuing viability of test cricket.

"I've said this from the beginning and I believe it even now, international Twenty20 is not the way forward," Jayawardene said in an article to be published in next month's edition of The Wisden Cricketer magazine.

"The way forward would be to have one big Twenty20 tournament, whether that's IPL (Indian Premier League), EPL (English Premier League) or (the West Indies') Stanford, and it will accommodate everyone's interests," he said. "The best players will play over a short period and the income generated can be shared."

Jayawardene, who has been short-listed for the international player of the year and the test player of the year awards, said having a unified T20 competition would ensure the survival of limited-overs and test match cricket.

But it would rely on the cooperation of the various national cricket boards, Jayawardene said. The Board of Control for Cricket in India launched the lucrative IPL last season, selling franchises in the competition and TV rights to amass unprecedented revenue for a domestic series. That sparked a spate of subsequent series, all with heavy financial backing and incentives for the elite players.

"The BCCI also needs to understand that we can't be playing four Twenty20 tournaments in a year. What happens to other cricket around the world then?" Jayawardene said. "Everyone's being driven by the money but you have to compromise and start sharing the pot."

Jayawardene, who is contracted to Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, and his fellow senior Sri Lanka players are in dispute with Sri Lanka Cricket over next year's tour of England and the financial terms of the tour because it clashes with the IPL.

"There's no compromise when it comes to playing for our country.

We put everything on the line but, regardless of how well we play against England or Australia, we'll still get paid what we get right now," Jayawardene said.

"But when we're given an opportunity like the IPL, it's a chance to play six weeks of cricket and make the sort of money that the rest of the world makes just by playing for their countries."

The 31-year-old Jayawardene, who averages 52.4 in 98 test matches, said players from nations such as England and Australia were much better paid than players from Sri Lanka.

"That's what the dialogue with the authorities is about. If we were paid what other international players are, there would be no issue. Then we wouldn't have to go and play IPL or EPL," he said.

Jayawardene would like to see Sri Lanka commit to playing more test cricket and give itself a chance to rise up the International Cricket Council rankings.

"How can you rank Sri Lanka?" he asked. "I think we have only 10 tests in the next three years. Out of that, we're playing Bangladesh home and away. So where's our opportunity to climb up the ladder?

"Are we getting equal opportunities to play against Australia, South Africa and England? When others play 20 tests or more in the same period, how are we going to get the points to move towards the top?"