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."

In the absence of their limited-overs spearhead, Lasith Malinga, Pradeep had looked likely to slot straight into the Test team with his extra pace through the air and unorthodox slingy action. "He was definitely in the mix after his performance in Derby," said Law. "He's one of our cards up our sleeve, so it's a shame if he has to go home. I'm heart-broken for him."

Sri Lanka's problems could be compounded by the potential loss of their veteran seamer Dilhara Fernando, who was limping during training after bowling through the pain of a less serious knee problem during that same match in Derby, in which he took six wickets.

Farveez Maharoof, who has been playing county cricket for Lancashire, has been drafted into the squad as cover, having already featured during their opening warm-up match against Middlesex in Uxbridge, when several members of the original 16-man squad were still in India playing the IPL.

Given his form for Lancashire and his all-round abilities, Maharoof could well end up playing his first Test since 2007. He started the season with a century on Lancashire debut and followed the tour game against Middlesex, in which he took two wickets, with a four-wicket first-innings haul for Lancashire against Yorkshire.

. Sri Lanka's other seam-bowling options are Suranga Lakmal, Thisara Perera and Chanaka Welegedara. Perera took four wickets at Derby, while Lakmal and Welegedara took three and five wickets respectively in the game against Middlesex.

Maharoof played 20 Tests between 2004 and 2007, and was a regular in Sri Lanka's one-day side till early 2009 after which a combination of injuries and the emergence of Angelo Mathews as Sri Lanka's premier allrounder kept him out of the national team. He made a comeback during the 2010 Asia Cup but has not played any international cricket since.

Maharoof's inclusion in the Sri Lanka squad means he misses Lancashire's trip to Hampshire and is unlikely to be available for the next match against Durham.

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."

On Sri Lanka's last tour of Pakistan, the Sri Lanka team bus was attacked on its way to the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore, cutting the tour short. There has not been any international cricket in Pakistan since. Afghanistan will become the first international team to play in Pakistan next week when they take on Pakistan 'A' in three 50-over games, but the PCB were aiming at a higher profile home series.

"We have sent them a fresh invite to play the series of three Tests, five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 match in Pakistan in October-November," PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said on Sunday. "We are waiting for their response but we have given them full security assurances." His comments came before the reports of the attack in Karachi.

Meanwhile, SLC interim committee chairman Somachandra de Silva said Sri Lanka responded to the Pakistani invitation saying that they are not going to play the series in Pakistan.

"We have replied to the PCB and await their confirmation. We are not going to play in Pakistan at this stage and have offered to host the series in our country," de Dilva told the Daily Mirror. "If they agree to play in Sri Lanka they will have to bear the entire hosting costs. We have also expressed our willingness to play at a neutral venue in Dubai or Abu Dhabi."

de Silva had earlier told AFP that security clearance from a Pakistan Task Team, formed by the ICC in 2009, is essential before considering any tour of Pakistan. Ranatunga confirmed that there were several issues that need to be worked out before any series in Pakistan can take place.

"Pakistan cricket is going through a difficult period, and we are keen to help them out as they are one of our best friends. But we have to consider the safety of our players," Ranatunga said. "First we have to get the security clearance. Then only will we discuss it with the cricketers. You have to remember that most of them were victims of the previous attack."

Boom Boom Afridi to retire from ODI's

KARACHI: Pakistan’s former captain Shahid Khan Afridi is going to announce his retirement from One Day International after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sacked him as skipper earlier in the week.

Sources told The Sports Encounter on Saturday that Shahid Khan Afridi is really dis-hearted on the way the PCB has dealt with him on his media leakages about his differences with head coach Waqar Younis.

The PCB, on Thursday, sacked Shahid Afridi as captain of the Pakistan’s One Day Internationals team and replaced him with Misbah-ul-Haq.

The Sports Encounter had reported on Tuesday that either Misbah-ul-Haq, the Test captain, or all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez was likely to replace Boom Boom Afridi as ODI captain in Ireland.

The decision was made for Pakistan’s upcoming two-match ODI series against Ireland where veteran top-order batsman Younus Khan will also join the team.

Boom Boom Afridi, who is in the United States for his father illness, is still part of the team as a regular player, but PCB chairman Ijaz Butt had told media that his place in the team is not cemented and he will have to prove his abilities. Misbah-ul-Haq, who is leading Pakistan in the two-match Test series in West Indies, will lead the team in Ireland, the PCB chairman added.

It is important to mention here that some media groups had earlier claimed that Shahid Afridi had talked to Ijaz Butt and during the conversation he was able to resolve all out-standing issues including his media outburst. They also claimed that the PCB chief had given Afridi captaincy assurance.

However, on Wednesday, Ijaz Butt told local media that Afridi wasn’t given any assurance of captaincy showing a state of anger in the top cricket board authorities after Afridi had told media about his differences with head coach Waqar Younis.

Following his remarks in the media, which wasn’t the first instance, the PCB had slapped Afridi with a notice demanding reasons for his media outburst.

Following his media outburst, Afridi rapidly lost support in the cricket board for not abiding by the board rules and continuing to talk to media despite several warnings by Ijaz Butt, PCB chairman, and other top authorities.

Pakistan are having a tough schedule as after returning from West Indies, they are due to play two ODIs in Ireland and then they will be touring Zimbabwe in August but before that most of the stars will be in action in the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) for which the PCB has issued NOCs to Shahid Khan Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal.

Thieves steal Sri Lankan cricket team's petrol

THE touring Sri Lankan cricket team were left stumped when thieves stole £700 worth of petrol from their team coach following their three day match against Middlesex at Uxbridge this week.

The team had been based at the Heathrow Crowne Plaza Hotel, in Stockley Road, West Drayton.

Anura Tennakoon, Sri Lanka's team manager, confirmed to the Gazette that the theft was discovered on Tuesday, when the team were checking out of the hotel.

He said: "Yes we did suffer a theft of petrol from the coach, it was around £700 worth.

"However it has not upset our plans at all, the problem was quickly resolved and the coach company is dealing with it."

Mr Tennakoon did not confirm to the Gazette which coach company the team uses, but added that the crime was logged with the police.

The team had fought back from a torrid first day on Saturday against Middlesex, at Uxbridge Cricket Club, in Gatting Way, Uxbridge, to recover to win their first match of the summer on Monday against a side which included England test captain Andrew Strauss.

England play their first test of a three test series against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on Thursday 26.

12 Indian cricketers to feature in SLPL

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed that as many as 12 Indian players will feature in the inaugural edition of the upcoming Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) T20 tournament according to a report in 'islandcricket' website.

The tournament which is all set to get underway on July 19 will also see several other international stars including the likes of David Warner and Shaun Tait from Australia and Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard from the West Indies, who are currently playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), playing in the Island nation.

The tournament will also provide a platform for the Pakistani players to showcase their talents who found no takers in the IPL.

Shahid Afridi, who will be captaining a team in the tournament, along with Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir and Umar Akmal will represent the Pakistani talent on show.

South Africa's dashing batsman Herschelle Gibbs and veteran Makhaya Ntini are amongst the other big names on show.

All matches will be held at the R Premadasa Stadium here.

The Indian players who figure in the list posted by the website include Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Manish Pandey, Manoj Tiwary, Paul Valthaty, Ravindra Jadeja, Saurabh Tiwary, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin.

However, the inclusion of Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel and Ashwin has come as a surprise as the trio will be on national duty as India is scheduled to visit England during the month of July for a four-match Test series followed by five-match one-day series and a one-off Twenty20 match. 

Other international stars in the list include Warner, Tait, Callum Ferguson, Daniel Christian (Australia), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Kevin O'Brien (Ireland), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Imran Nazir, Afridi, Akhtar, Tanvir, Akmal, Wahab Riaz (Pakistan), Albie Morkel, Gibbs, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Ntini (South Africa), Gayle, Danza Hyatt, Darren Bravo, Pollard (West Indies).

SLC Secretary, Nishantha Ranatunga Hints At Increasing the Number of Teams in Sri Lanka Premier League

Sri Lanka Cricket secretary, Mr. Nishantha Ranatunga, has hinted at increasing the number of provinces participating in the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) to nine after the first few seasons.

The inaugural edition of the tournament, to be held in Sri Lanka in July-August this year, will include seven provinces of Sri Lanka.

The country has total of nine provinces and the two provinces that do not have a team this time include Rajarata and Sabaragamuwa. The SLC secretary assured that the exclusion of these two provinces will not last long and would be part of the national league after the first few seasons.

"We merely wanted to limit the number of teams to ensure competitiveness," said Ranatunga while talking to the media reporters on Tuesday.

"So far, we have had only five teams in our domestic provincial tournaments. We added North (Uthura) and East (Negenahira) for this first tournament, and as we progress with it in the next few seasons, we will add the other two provinces as well," he added.

The opening edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League will start at the end of the July this year and will last for more than 18 days.

Although Sri Lanka built two new stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele for the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2011, all of the SLPL fixtures will be hosted by the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

When asked about the logic behind staging the whole tournament in one stadium, Ranatunga said that the logistical issues prompted them to use only one stadium.

He further added that they had to finish everything within a time frame of two to three weeks and it would be pretty tiresome for the players to travel heavily in the short period.

The SLC secretary said that keeping in mind all these aspects, they had no option but to limit the league to Colombo.

SLPL, like the Indian Premier League and the revised format of the Big Bash in Australia, will not feature city-based teams. Ranatunga said that the province-based teams would allow the teams of the whole province to link up.

O'Brien joins Gloucestershire and Sri Lanka league

CRICKET NEWS: KEVIN O’BRIEN is about to turn his big-hitting World Cup heroics into personal reward on the double after signing up to play for English county side Gloucestershire, while he will also join one of the seven sides to take part in the new Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 tournament later in the summer.


The 27-year-old all-rounder from Sandymount, Dublin, displayed his destructive batting to brilliant effect during the recent World Cup, scoring the fastest century in the tournament’s history off just 50 balls as Ireland stunned England in victory in Bangalore.



Talks of a lucrative deal with an Indian Premier League franchise came in the aftermath of that performance, but having not been included in the original list for the player auction, O’Brien would have to bide his time.


Now the Railway Union right-hander will have the perfect opportunity to put himself in the shop window by taking part in the inaugural Sri Lankan tournament, which will be run off over 18 days in late July and August and organised by Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment Ventures.


And although it pales in comparison to the juggernaut of its Indian counterpart, top players are expected to earn up to €20,000 for their involvement.


O’Brien is still to find out which of the seven sides he will be playing with, although he has been informed that former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya will skipper the side and that West Indies batsman Darren Bravo and South African bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe have also been approached to play in the same side.


“The opportunity actually came through (Ireland coach) Phil Simmons, who forwarded me an e-mail a while back, and subsequently Somerset Entertainment Ventures approached me,” said O’Brien yesterday. “It’s going to be a magnificent experience, and hopefully I’ll acquit myself well.”


For the time being, O’Brien will be concentrating on his return to county cricket with Gloucestershire after spending time with Nottinghamshire in 2009. His older brother, Niall, plays for Northamptonshire. He is looking forward to working under former New Zealand coach John Bracewell and will get plenty of opportunity to brush up on all things Sri Lankan, as the county have also signed Muttiah Muralitharan.


“I am very excited to have the opportunity to play for Gloucestershire, and work under one of the most successful coaches in domestic one-day history,” added O’Brien “It is going to be an honour to play with Murali.”


O’Brien is expected to join up with the side later this week and could make his debut in the Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Glamorgan in Cardiff on Sunday.