Sri Lanka name 56 foreign players for SLPL

Sri Lanka Cricket has named 56 foreign players who will play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League. There are no India or England players - apart from Azhar Mahmood - among the 56, who were picked by the seven franchises via a draft system in Colombo on Thursday. 

Shahid Afridi* was originally supposed to be the icon player for Nagenahira but all the franchises wanted to make sure their icon players were available throughout the tournament. Due to the recently announced Australia-Pakistan series that starts on August 28th, Afridi would potentially miss the semi-finals and finals of the SLPL if his team made it that far, leaving Nagenahira without their icon player at the business end of the tournament. With the agreement of the other franchises, Afridi was released by Naganahira in to the draft, where he was subsequently signed by Ruhuna. Lasith Malinga remains Ruhuna's icon, while Nagenahira's icon player will be named on Friday.

SLC gets official warning for Galle pitch

Sri Lanka Cricket has been given an official ICC warning for preparing a "poor" pitch in Galle for the first Test against Australia that was played from August 31-September 3. The ICC's pitch consultant Andy Atkinson will inspect the pitch at the end of this month and make recommendations about any corrective action required. SLC, for its part, will need to submit a report confirming the recommended corrective action, if any, has been taken prior to staging its next international match in Galle.

The Galle Test, won by Australia, lasted four days, with the home team being dismissed for 105 and 253 in its 125-run defeat. The match referee for the game Chris Broad had expressed his concern about the pitch to the ICC. Richardson and the ICC's chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle, relying on Broad's report, the SLC's response and video footage from the game, then made their decision.

"We have come to a decision that the pitch prepared for the match should be rated as 'poor'," David Richardson, the ICC's general manager for cricket, said in a statement. "It was clear from the video footage of the match that the amount of turn, especially early in the match, was excessive and there were occasions (even on the first day) where the ball went through the surface of the pitch, bouncing unusually steeply from a good length.

Tharanga faces two-year ban from cricket

The beleaguered Sri Lanka ODI opener Upul Tharanga will face an official ICC panel of inquiry to explain about his side of the story following reports that he had been tested positive for banned drugs, according to informed sources. The ICC inquiry will be held in Dubai on or about June 24.

If the Lankan opener cannot substantiate his innocence at this inquiry, he stands to face a maximum two-year ban, the sources said citing World Anti-Doping Agency rules.

Sri Lanka Cricket which was keeping mum on the issue last week broke its silence and issued a statement saying, “The ICC, has informed Sri Lanka Cricket that Upul Tharanga has been tested positive for the presence of a prohibited substance during a testing of a urine sample collected from him after the semi final match against New Zealand on March 29, 2011and a disciplinary charge has been initiated.

Tharanga to miss England series

Upul Tharanga, the Sri Lanka opener, has been ruled out of the limited-overs leg of the England tour as he prepares to face a disciplinary committee for failing a drugs test during the World Cup.

Tharanga, 26, tested positive after the semi-final against New Zealand, in Colombo, and Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed he won't be selected for any representative cricket in the short term.

"Since there is an ongoing inquiry to verify this charge, Upul Tharanga will not be making himself available for selection until the conclusion of the inquiry and therefore will not be available for the ODI and T20 matches in England and the Sri Lanka A Team tour of England," a statement said.

Tharanga's absence means Sri Lanka could be without their two first-choice one-day openers against England with the captain Tillakaratne Dilshan also a doubt having suffered a hairline fracture of his thumb in the second Test at Lord's. However, Dilshan is still hopeful of being available for the one Twenty20 international and five ODIs.

Jayasuriya EYES a comeback

Hopes to be selected for the England one-day series, the legendary all-rounder says

Dubai: Sri Lankan former captain and legendary all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya is aiming for a comeback during the upcoming one-day series in England.

In an interview with Gulf News at Zabeel Park, Jayasuriya, who is on an invitation from the G Force Cricket Academy, said: "I hope to be selected for the England one-day series. I have been playing in the Provincial Series and have played well and got most runs in the domestic season. If I get a chance I will give my best again for my country or I will continue with my preparations for the coming Sri Lankan Premier League (SPL) in July, which is going to be a big and interesting tournament."

Sri Lanka confirm Tharanga failed dope test

A spokesperson for the ministry of sports in Sri Lanka has confirmed that opening batsman Upul Tharanga tested positive for a banned substance at this year's World Cup.

Harsha Abeykoon said that an inquiry has also been launched by the sports ministry and that Sri Lanka Cricket had yet to be officially informed by the International Cricket Council on Tharanga’s situation.

“The sports minister named a three-member panel to launch a domestic investigation and as a first step they will record a statement from Tharanga at the earliest,” Abeykoon told AFP.

Left-hander Tharanga scored two centuries in the tournament co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and was the fifth highest run-getter.

He has played 15 Tests and 121 one-day internationals and scored 12 international centuries.

Sri Lanka's Sunday Times said Tharanga had claimed he was prescribed prednisolone by an alternative medicine practitioner who had treated other cricketers in the past.

Prednisolone, a corticosteroid, is on the WADA banned list.

Nuwan Pradeep set to fly home

Sri Lanka's preparations for the first Test in Cardiff have taken a blow with the news that Nuwan Pradeep, their match-winning seamer against the England Lions on Sunday, is set to fly home after picking up a knee injury.

Pradeep claimed figures of 4 for 29 in ten hostile overs as Sri Lanka overcame the follow-on to bowl the Lions out for 183 in Derby and win a thrilling contest by 38 runs. However, according to Stuart Law, the bowler sustained damage to his anterior cruciate ligament after treading on the ball in the course of that spell, and is currently seeing a specialist to determine the full extent of the injury.

"It's bad news for the young man," said Law. "If things are okay and he doesn't need an operation, we may opt to keep him here if he can get through, but at this stage it looks like he's flying home. The warmer you are the better with these injuries, but as he stopped he was dragging his leg around yesterday. It's a shame."

No Pak tour without security clearance - Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will not tour Pakistan unless they get security clearance, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said. The PCB had asked SLC for their views on playing the scheduled series between the two sides in Pakistan, but Sri Lanka's stand, and a major terrorist attack on Sunday night at a Karachi military base very close to the National Stadium, have severely undermined any hopes of a tour.

"We have received requests from Pakistan over the past three or four months," Ranatunga said. "The PCB told us that they would like to host our team as scheduled in the FTP [Future Tours Programme]. We told them our stance that we need security clearance first before sending a team there again."

Dilshan targets Test success with young attack

Tillakaratne Dilshan wants to become the first Sri Lanka captain to secure a Test series victory in England after leaving the IPL early to lead his team. Although they famously won the one-off clash at The Oval in 1998, when Muttiah Muralitharan took 16 wickets, their best results in a series on English soil is the 1-1 in 2006 which was again secured thanks to a matchwinning effort by Muralitharan Trent Bridge.


This time there is no Muralitharan, but Dilshan has promised not to take a backward step over the next month. "Beating England in their own conditions in the early part of summer is not going to be easy, we have to play very good cricket to do that," he said. "But I am really confident with our boys. As a team we can give England a good run. It's a good challenge for everyone. Before the team leaves for England I will have a word with my players. We are going there with only one intention - to win the series. We are not going there just to draw or to survive in England we want to beat them. We are going to England with that mindset. I am seriously looking forward to the upcoming series."