Category: Sports

July 30, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Cricket on Saturday named a 16-man squad for the Twenty20 games against Australia next month. The teams will play two Twenty20 games on August 6 and 8 at the newly-built Pallakelle International Stadium in the central town of Kandy, which will also host the opening one-dayer and the […]

July 20, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday announced its one-day and T20 squad for Australia’s tour of the island next month, but stopped short of naming a skipper. Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was named captain for the just concluded tour of England, was included in the 20-man squad scheduled to play five ODIs and […]

LAHORE, July 14, 2011 (AFP) – Pakistan on Thursday released on bail the leader of one of its leading extremist organisations who is accused of sectarian murders and masterminding an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team. Malik Ishaq, head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) and held for nearly 14 years, was cheered by more than 100 […]

LONDON, July 13, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga ensured the islanders tour of Britain ended on a winning note as he took five wickets in a 183-run one-day international rout of Scotland here on Wednesday. Beaten in both Test and one-day series by England, the World Cup finalists proved too strong […]

KARACHI, July 8, 2011 (AFP) – Pakistan’s cricket chief Ijaz Butt has said India rejected a proposal to share revenue from a possible series between the arch rivals on the grounds that India will play host. “We hope the series will be revived and we told them we are ready to play in India but […]

July 8, 2011 (AFP) – Only three months ago, Sri Lanka were battling it out with India in the World Cup final but they have since gone from controversy to scandal to full-blown crisis in an astounding fall from grace. After losing the Mumbai showpiece, Sri Lanka have unravelled in spectacular fashion, hit by resignations, […]

NOTTINGHAM, July 6, 2011 (AFP) – England captain Alastair Cook’s unbeaten 95 completed his side’s crushing 10-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international at Trent Bridge here on Wednesday. England’s win left the five-match series all square at 2-2 ahead of Saturday’s Old Trafford finale. England, chasing a revised target of 171 […]

July 5, 2011 (AFP) – Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara is in hot water after his highly acclaimed lecture at Lord’s, where he criticised what he alleged was a corrupt and politicised cricket administration at home. He said power games among cricket administrators, as well as board politics, had triggered rifts, ill feeling and […]

LONDON, July 4, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka star Kumar Sangakkara has welcomed the International Cricket Council (ICC) directive requiring all national boards to be elected without political interference. His call came just days after Sri Lanka’s sports minister said he had forced the national cricket board committee to step down following allegations of financial […]

July 5, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s cash-strapped cricket governing body is likely to scale down its inaugural Twenty20 league and go ahead without foreign players, a source close to the process said Tuesday. The Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) was scheduled to kick off on July 19 with players from Australia, India, New Zealand, […]

LEEDS, July 2, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka are contemplating resting Mahela Jayawardene from games in order to prolong the star batsman’s career. The only people who appeared to need Jayawardene to take a break at Headingley here on Friday were England’s bowlers as the 34-year-old marked his 343rd one-day international with a career-best 144. […]

LAHORE, July 2, 2011 (AFP) – Bangladeshi football chiefs said security arrangements for their game away at Pakistan in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday were “satisfactory”. “We have provided the best possible security for the visiting team, around their hotel and in the stadium, so we hope there will be no worries on that […]