'Limit number of T20 events'

The Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene calls for just one big Twenty20 tournament a year.

The Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jawardene wants Sri Lanka to play more Test matches.

COLOMBO // The Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has called for just one big Twenty20 tournament a year in order to preserve the balance with Test and one-day international cricket. Jayawardene believes the boards need to consider the impact on world cricket when scheduling Twenty20 events such as the Indian Premier League, English Premier League and the Stanford Super Series.

"I've said this from the beginning and I believe it even now - international T20 is not the way forward," he said. "The way forward would be to have one big T20 tournament, whether that's IPL, EPL or Stanford, and it will accommodate everyone's interests. "The best players will play over a short period and the income generated can be shared. "That way, you still have your ODIs and Tests, and the FTP [Future Tours Programme] functions properly."

Jayawardene said: "The important thing is that the boards don't compete with each other. "The BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India] also need to understand that we can't be playing four Twenty20 tournaments in a year. What happens to other cricket around the world then? "Everyone's being driven by the money but you have to compromise and start sharing the pot." Jayawardene, 31, and his senior colleagues remain in dispute with the Sri Lanka Cricket board over next year's tour of England, which clashes with the IPL.

Contracted to Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, Jayawardene claims there would be no conflict over the issue if the Sri Lankans were paid on a par with the other top nations for playing international cricket. "There's no compromise when it comes to playing for our country," he said. "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 [about Dh16,126 per Test and Dh9,675 per one-day game].

"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. "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." Jayawardene feels Sri Lanka have been hindered in their quest to climb the ICC rankings by a lack of matches against top-quality opposition.

"It's not just that we don't play enough Test cricket but where have we played a five-match series?" he asks. "We hardly play three-Test series. Usually it's two here and there. I know some will say that we have two Tests in England next summer and ask why are we not going, but that's a different issue. If you take the FTP, we don't get the opportunities. "How can you rank Sri Lanka? 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?" * PA Sport