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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sriflipflop" data-source="post: 2387150" data-attributes="member: 22013">Sri Lanka's tour of England next year hangs in the balance with Mahinda Rajapakse, the country's president, instructing his sports minister to ensure that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) propose alternate dates for the tour or decline the invitation of the England and Wales Cricket Board. Cricinfo has learnt that Rajapakse issued the instructions to Gamini Lokuge, the sports minister, after senior Sri Lankan players presented him on Wednesday with a copy of a letter they had sent to SLC chairman Arjuna Ranatunga seeking a clarification on the proposed tour from April 21-May 30. Those dates clash with the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), where 13 Sri Lankans are on contracts with the various franchises. One possibility SLC may offer the ECB is for the original plan of two Tests and three ODIs to be converted into an ODI series between May 21-30. Sources said that the idea of sending a second-string team to England was also mooted initially but dismissed. The letter does not mention the possibility of a player boycott, as is being widely speculated, but records the cricketers' disappointment at the timing of the tour and notes that they had been previously promised by SLC that the "IPL window would be clear in 2009 and 2010", the sources said. The 13 Sri Lankans on three-year contracts with the franchises, including Mahela Jayawardene, their captain, Kumar Sangakkara, the vice-captain, and Muttiah Muralitharan. Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, has already announced that the second season of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament will be held from April 10-May 29, 2009. A final decision on the situation is expected to be taken after SLC officials meet on Thursday to discuss the issue. Sri Lanka's England tour slots in the fixture gap caused by the ECB's decision to suspend bilateral ties with Zimbabwe and the cancellation of their 2009 visit.</blockquote>

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