Sri Lanka's tour of England has been cast into serious jeopardy after the players expected to be selected refused to sign the tour contracts offered by Sri Lanka Cricket.

This is as part of the men's cricketers' larger resistance to SLC's new annual contracts scheme, which they believe lacks transparency and does not adequately compensate senior players. Although players have not been centrally contracted since last October when the previous round of contracts expired, series since then has been played under a succession of temporary tour contracts. But the players have now dug their heels in and are headed for a serious confrontation with SLC over the next 72 hours. The team is due to leave for England at 12.05am on Wednesday (June 9).