Chamari Athapaththu will miss the final phase of the WPL for UP Warriorz (UPW) to join the Sri Lanka national team for a white-ball tour in New Zealand starting March 4. Athapaththu’s absence follows that of UPW’s captain Alyssa Healy due to injury. She will be available for UPW until February 26, after which the team will enter the final league phase with three home matches. The scheduling conflict highlights ongoing issues with international and league tournaments, prompting assurances from boards like the ECB to avoid such overlaps in the future, as women’s cricket schedules continue to evolve.
Chamari Athapaththu will be absent from the final stages of the WPL for UP Warriorz (UPW) as she heads to New Zealand for a white-ball tour with Sri Lanka, commencing on March 4 in Napier. This marks the second significant setback for UPW, who are already missing their captain Alyssa Healy due to injury.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Athapaththu will be available for UPW until February 26, allowing her to participate in four additional games before fulfilling her national commitments. After the match on February 26 against Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru, UPW will travel to Lucknow to compete in the final league segment of the tournament, where they will host three home games. Thus far, they have played only one game, and Athapaththu was omitted from the lineup in that match, which resulted in a loss to Gujarat Giants.
Athapaththu was appointed as the captain of Sri Lanka’s 16-member squad, announced by the SLC on Monday. The team is set to depart for New Zealand on February 22 to participate in three ODIs and three T20Is.
All-rounder Amelia Kerr is the sole representative from New Zealand in the WPL this season. Unlike Athapaththu, Kerr plans to miss the bilateral series next month to fully participate in the WPL, including the knockout stages if MI qualify. Should MI reach the final, scheduled for March 15, Kerr will be unavailable for the first two T20Is set for March 14 and 16 in Christchurch. Last year, Kerr also opted out of the home bilateral T20Is against England to commit to the entire WPL duration.
In 2024, the overlap between the final phase of the WPL and the T20I series in New Zealand became a larger issue, leading England captain Heather Knight (RCB) and Lauren Bell (UPW) to withdraw from the WPL altogether to represent their nation. Coincidentally, Athapaththu replaced Bell for UPW during that period.
Since then, boards like the ECB have promised their players that they will not schedule international matches during the WPL, which is set to transition from the current February-March window to January-February starting in 2026, according to the new women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP). To prevent such conflicts between international series and other T20 leagues, separate windows have been assigned in the FTP for The Hundred (August) and the WBBL (November), which will run until 2029.
With additional reporting from Andrew Fidel Fernando
