Category: Sports

BRIDGETOWN, May 8, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene is relishing the “freedom” that comes with opening the batting after another superlative display at the World Twenty20. And he insists his appetite for runs is far from sated ahead of the islanders’ upcoming clash with Australia on Sunday. The 32-year-old made an unbeaten 98 […]

May 3, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka suffered a major blow to their World Twenty20 campaign when veteran off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was sidelined with a groin injury, officials said on Monday. Muralitharan, 38, who is also the team’s vice captain, was injured during Friday’s opening match against New Zealand in Guyana, which Sri Lanka lost […]

April 25, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka, world champions in the 50-over format in 1996, are desperate to add the Twenty20 title to their collection in the Caribbean after a series of near-misses. Captain Kumar Sangakkara’s men lost the World T20 championship by eight wickets to Pakistan at Lords last year. Two years earlier, the […]

April 25, 2010 (AFP) – The untamed bleached blond locks have been dyed black as Sri Lanka’s sling sensation Lasith Malinga tempers his looks and polishes his armoury for the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean. Short and squat, his unorthodox action, with a low point of release against the backdrop of the umpire’s chest or […]

WELLINGTON, April 23, 2010 (AFP) – New Zealand will play a three-match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka in the United States next month, officials said Friday. The matches in Florida will launch a new strategic partnership between cricket authorities in New Zealand and the United States, New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said. “This […]

NEW DELHI, April 19, 2010 (AFP) – The Indian government promised on Monday an in-depth tax and financing probe into the country’s cash-rich premier cricket league, warning that “no wrongdoer will be spared”. The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded an investigation into the IPL, accusing it of being “the Corruption Premier League.” The […]

LONDON, April 16, 2010 (AFP) – Cricket could be facing a world shortage of bats as a result of a European Union directive, according to a report in England on Friday. The bizarre crisis follows an EU decision to outlaw before export the chemical methyl bromide, which is an insecticide used to treat the wood […]

HYDERABAD, April 12, 2010 (AFP) – Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza married Monday after a troubled engagement in a union that bridges the two nations’ bitter sporting and political divide. The wedding was the final chapter in a complex and often contradictory saga during which Malik consistently denied claims by […]

April 2, 2010 (AFP) – The International Cricket Council on Friday said it was working to ease visa complications for overseas fans wishing to travel to the 2011 World Cup on the Indian sub-continent. Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh who are co-hosting the flagship event have promised to speed-up and simplify the visa issuing process, […]

March 27, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has offered the services of his spiritual healer and personal physician to help injured footballer David Beckham get back on the field within three days. White, who says he has had “special powers” since the age of 12, studied traditional medicine. He then began treating thousands of […]

HOVE, March 10, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan Twenty20 specialist Tillakaratne Dilshan will play for Sussex this season, the English county announced on Wednesday. Dilshan, whose trademark ‘Dilscoop’ shot has enthralled crowds around the world, was player of the tournament at last year’s World Twenty20 in England where his 317 runs at 52.38 helped power […]

LAHORE, March 3, 2010 (AFP) – Pakistan on Wednesday marked the first anniversary of a deadly attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, striving to revive the game in the cricket-mad nation and forge a path out of isolation. Seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach were injured and eight Pakistanis killed when attackers […]