Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has terminated two Lanka Premier League (LPL) franchises ahead of its 2025 season, which is pencilled for July and August. Jaffna Kings and Colombo Strikers are the franchises to be ousted this time by a league that has struggled to hold on to franchise owners.
The LPL is in its fifth year, but none of the original five owners are now part of the league. Jaffna Kings were in fact the longest-standing owners, having been part of the LPL since the second season. Their exit now means that the Jaffna franchise, which has won three of the four LPL tournaments to be played so far, is now about to have a third owner. The Colombo franchise will have its fourth, having previously been Colombo Kings and Colombo Stars as well.
With these two exits, the LPL now has no franchise owners with a history stretching back beyond 2024. The owners of the other three franchises - Galle Marvels, Dambulla Sixers, and Kandy Falcons - were all new entrants last year.
SLC's reasons for terminating the franchises was "failure to fulfill their contractual obligations", though the board did not elaborate on what these failures were. "Sri Lanka Cricket and the IPG Group (the LPL's organising partners) remain committed to upholding the integrity, standards, and success of the Lanka Premier League" the board release said.
SLC has not yet released the dates for this year's tournament.