Sri Lanka

Lahiru Thirimanne and the rest of the group were tested on February 2 © AFP via Getty Images Sri Lanka head coach Mickey Arthur and batsman Lahiru Thirimanne have both returned positive Covid-19 tests at the latest round of PCR testing conducted on the provisional squad, which has been preparing for the planned tour of

News An independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal found Lokuhettige guilty of three offences Former Sri Lanka allrounder Dilhara Lokuhettige has been found guilty of three offences under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. An independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal has found Lokuhettige guilty of: Article 2.1.1 – for being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive or otherwise

News Jerome Jayaratne has been appointed team manager, but there is no news yet as to the selection panel’s composition Ashantha de Mel has resigned as Sri Lanka’s chief selector following the 2-0 loss to England in the home Test series that concluded on Monday. Sri Lanka had also recently lost 2-0 in South Africa.

Angelo Mathews congratulates Joe Root after his double-century © SLC Joe Root believes England will go into their series against India with “a huge amount of confidence” after completing victory in Sri Lanka. England’s six-wicket win in Galle represented their fifth successive Test victory both overseas and in Asia. And while Root, England’s captain, admitted

News Mark Wood picked for back-to-back Tests, with Olly Stone missing out on recall James Anderson has been recalled by England for Friday’s second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, at the expense of his long-term new-ball partner Stuart Broad, in a solitary change to the side that won the first Test by seven wickets

Big picture What can we make of cricket played in such abnormal conditions? England’s victory in Galle was substantial, and yet it was the kind of Test that didn’t reveal a lot about either team. This is largely down to Sri Lanka’s 135 in the first innings – their monument to incompetence, under the shadow

News This is the first time players attached to Sri Lanka squads have tested positive for Covid-19 Seam bowler Binura Fernando and seam-bowling allrounder Chamika Karunaratne have tested positive for Covid-19 after having begun training as part of a 22-member limited-overs squad ahead of next month’s tour of the West Indies. Both players have since

Play 02:00 Stone opens up about ‘frustrating’ period with England Olly Stone has admitted there have been times when he wondered whether pursuing a career as a fast bowler was “the right thing to do”. Stone has endured horrendous luck with injuries over the last few years. But, in the interludes between cruciate ligament damage,

News “The wicket was not offering anything for the fast bowlers but he was still moving the ball.” Eleven of Stuart Broad’s 17 overs in the second innings in Galle were maidens. Angelo Mathews, who faced 37 Broad deliveries in that innings, managed only one scoring shot against him. At times, Mathews said, it felt

News Sri Lanka release five players from bio-bubble, including quicks Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis will not play for Sri Lanka in the second Test against England, after both were released from the squad and its biosecure bubble, along with three other players. Karunaratne and Mendis have been let go

Jonny Bairstow says that the pleasure of sealing victory in the first Test at Galle makes the hardships of life in the England bubble worthwhile, after he and Dan Lawrence soothed the team’s jitters on the final morning of the first Test to seal an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka. Bairstow, back in the

News Praises Thirimanne for his commitment, hints at a hard call on Kusal Mendis The quick turnaround from a South Africa series may have led to the rapid Sri Lanka collapse on day one, which went on to define the Test. This was the reading of coach Mickey Arthur, who said that Sri Lanka’s 135

News England allrounder unlikely to be match-ready for second Test, but set to resume training Moeen Ali has been released from quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Sri Lanka, and has returned to the England team bubble in Galle after serving an extended isolation period. Moeen, 33, tested negative for the virus

News Hosts’ batting coach at a loss to explain how they were all out for 135 The worst he’s seen. That was batting coach Grant Flower‘s summation of Sri Lanka’s first innings at Galle, where they were all out for 135, against an England attack that were far from unplayable. Among Sri Lanka’s worst shots

Report England give debut to Dan Lawrence, prefer Stuart Broad to James Anderson Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat vs England Sri Lanka have been hit by injury to their captain, Dimuth Karunaratne, on the opening morning of the Test series against England. Karunaratne is understood to have sustained a broken thumb in training and

Joe Root hopes that the know-how gleaned by his twin spinners, Jack Leach and Dom Bess, on conducive surfaces at Taunton will help England to overcome their lack of match preparation when the first Test against Sri Lanka gets underway in Galle on Thursday. With England’s match practice limited to two days of intra-squad warm-ups

Big picture If form in South Asian conditions is difficult to discern ahead of this series, with so little Test cricket having been played here in the past year, Sri Lanka are throwing predictions into further disarray with their wounded and their injury returnees. A day out from the first Test, (there’s still time to

News Moeen will remain in isolation until Friday or Saturday at request of Sri Lankan authorities Moeen Ali looks set to be ruled out of both of England’s Tests in Sri Lanka after his period in quarantine was extended. Moeen, who tested positive for Covid-19 shortly after arrival in the country, has been in isolation

T10 could help forge cricket’s path to inclusion in the Olympics, Kumar Sangakkara, the MCC President, said. Speaking ahead of this month’s T10 League, where he will work with Team Abu Dhabi as a mentor, Sangakkara said that while it was impossible to say whether cricket might be included in the Olympics as soon as

News Wicketkeeper-batsman says Sri Lanka have a better chance of success against England than in 2018-19 Seventy Test innings in, Niroshan Dickwella is still hunting for that big one. Way back in 2014, when he had barely graduated from the Under-19 team, Dickwella began his Test career with a sparkling 72 off 116 balls, against

News Left-hand batsman will be relocating to the USA with his family Top-order batsman Shehan Jayasuriya has called time on his Sri Lanka career, according to a release from the SLC. The 29-year-old left-hand batsman has taken this decision after choosing to relocate to the USA with his family. Jayasuriya represented Sri Lanka 30 times

News Dananjaya, who was banned for a year in 2019, was cleared by a panel that viewed footage of his new action Akila Dananjaya has been cleared to bowl in international cricket after an ICC “expert panel” concluded that the flex in his elbow is now within the permitted limit, following remedial work on his

Jonny Bairstow believes he can be “a huge contributor” to England’s Test team over the next few years, claiming his game has never been better. Bairstow hasn’t played Test cricket for more than a year and hasn’t scored a Test century for more than two years. But, despite having played only two first-class games in

Report Sri Lanka lose last six wickets for 35 runs before openers wrap up comfortable win South Africa 302 (Elgar 127, van der Dussen 67, V Fernando 5-101) and 67 for 0 (Markram 36*) beat Sri Lanka 157 (Perera 60, Nortje 6-56) and 211 (Karunaratne 103, Ngidi 4-44) Any momentum Sri Lanka had gained on

News Seamer suggests 200-run target could be tricky for home side after first-innings collapse Vishwa Fernando has warned that Sri Lanka’s attack is ready to tear in again and give South Africa “a good challenge”, if their remaining batsmen can muster a fourt-innings target worthy of the name. Vishwa claimed his maiden Test five-for as

News Lack of preparation time and warm-up matches is ‘not ideal’, Anderson suggests James Anderson believes Sri Lanka may have a “slight advantage” going into their Test series against England later this month. With Sri Lanka playing a two-Test series in South Africa and England’s red-ball specialists having not played since August, Anderson accepts his

News Sri Lanka’s captain also said he wasn’t confident with his own batting during the first Test Dimuth Karunaratne‘s seam attack has been decimated by injury. But he’s confident (or at least he’s hoping) that despite his bowlers’ inexperience, their hunger to earn a more stable place in the team will translate to good results

News After innings win, hosts want to assert themselves even further No-one wants to say it outright but the second Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka is shaping up to be a mismatch even before the first ball is bowled. The spate of injuries to the Sri Lankan squad could see them go into

Temba Bavuma has acknowledged that walking after he played and missed on 71 in the Boxing Day Test “wasn’t the cleverest of things,” and hopes to complete “unfinished business,” in the second Test against Sri Lanka, which starts on Sunday. Bavuma, who has one Test hundred to his name, scored five years ago, was well

News Lahiru Kumara forced off the field as tourists’ injury problems continue in Centurion Sri Lanka’s coach, Mickey Arthur, is set to raise the issue of injury substitutions with the ICC after seeing two more of his players go down on day three of the first Test against South Africa in Centurion. Sri Lanka had