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Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, has been left out of the 15-man squad for the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. Only nine of the 15 players who travelled to the World Cup have been selected for the three-match series starting May 18. Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas had earlier been released from selection for the series so they could play county cricket in England.Asantha de Mel, Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors, said that Atapattu, who did not play a single game in the World Cup, had been dropped so that younger players could be given an opportunity to perform. “Marvan will be considered in the future, but for this series we thought of going with a couple of young guys,” de Mel told AFP.Among the uncapped players named in the squad is Malinda Warnapura, a left-hand batsman, who turned out a great performance for Sri Lanka A against Bangladesh A in March-April this year. Warnapura’s unbeaten 104, as opener in the second ODI clinched the series for Sri Lanka A. He also made 242 in Sri Lanka A’s 283-run victory in the first of the two four-day games that preceded the ODIs. Warnapura’s team-mate in that A squad, Ishara Amerasinghe, a right-arm fast-medium bowler, has also been named in the touring party. He took four wickets at an average of 30 in the three ODIs against Bangladesh A.”Malinda deserves the break,” said de Mel. “He’s done exceptionally well with the A team and was an automatic choice. Ishara bowls at a good pace and he’s got the talent and we want to see how he goes.” de Mel said Amerasinghe’s action was similar to Lasith Malinga’s, the Sri Lankan fast bowler, who has an unusual side-arm action.Prasanna Jayawardene will keep wickets in the absence of Sangakkara. Middle-order batsman Chamara Kapugedara and legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi are also part of the squad.Sri Lanka squad: Mahela Jayawardene (capt) Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Silva, Tillekaratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Malinga Bandara, Lasith Malinga, Malinda Warnapura, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Ruchira Perera, Ishara Amerasinghe, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Chamara Kapugedara.

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Seamer Tonito Willett took a career-best 5 for 31 to help Leeward Islands to a 34-run victory against Windward Islands in St Georges. Overnight on 183 for 6, chasing 289, Windwards were dismissed for 254 shortly after lunch. Allrounder Liam Sebastien scored a defiant unbeaten 54 but ran short of partners. His stand of 43 with captain Deighton Butler for the eighth wicket took Windwards closer, before Willet ran through the tail. The victory was sealed when Willet trapped Nelson Pascal lbw, swinging across the line. It was the second loss for Windwards after their nine-wicket defeat against Barbados. Leewards are now tied at third spot with Trinidad & Tobago on 12 points.
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Suleiman Benn and Dwayne Smith shared seven wickets between them to help Barbados to a comprehensive innings-and-57-run victory against Guyana at the Kensington Oval. Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan found form with a half-century and his 87-run partnership with Assad Fudadin defied Barbados till lunch, but it wasn’t enough to make Barbados bat again.The overnight pair of Sarwan and Leon Johnson buckled down and took the overnight score of 85 for 3 to 122 before Benn dismissed Johnson. Sarwan survived a very confident appeal for a catch on 36 off Kemar Roach and proceeded to his half-century. Fudadin, who provided solid support to Sarwan in his 33, fell shortly after lunch, caught by wicketkeeper Carlo Morris after the ball rebounded off Jason Haynes at short leg. Benn returned to dismiss Sarwan for 82, caught at forward short-leg while Smith cleaned up the lower order to finish with figures of 3 for 66. Benn, who bowled 36 overs, ended with 4 for 96. The defeat left Guyana at the bottom of the table with the Combined Campuses & Colleges and Windward Islands.Points table

On official fancy-dress day at Edgbaston, the only costume suitable wasmacs and wellies. Elvis Presley’s quiffs were flattened, the Pink Pantherslowly turned green and the Vikings appeared to be drawing upplans for building a long boat.When play finally started at 4.45pm, the crowd was somehow almost full. Fornearly six hours, Birmingham’s hardiest, most fanatical (or drunk?)cricket-lovers remained in their seats, or at least in the bar. Like ateam chasing down a tricky score (England take note), the crowd crossedoff successive targets: first, the end of the persistent, warm drizzle;second the appearance of the sun; thirdly the removal of the big covers(which was cheered with almost as much vigour as Kevin Pietersen’s reversesweep six yesterday); fourthly, and finally, the sight of Andrew Flintoffleading his men out. England had obviously been itching to get out there -umpires Aleem Dar and Darrell Hair were almost tripped up, so close wereEngland on their heels.This Edgbaston crowd had plenty to entertain themselves with. Many werefixated by replays on the large screen of iconic images from lastsummer’s Ashes Test at this venue. With the kind of wide-eyed wonderusually reserved for children in sci-fi films, the crowd relived everyheart-stopping moment. Was it really that close? It all seems surreal now.And Brett Lee’s cover drive through the covers that seemed to be going fora winning four before the camera showed Ashley Giles move into frame tocut it off brought audible gasps. Perhaps people were imagining the fateof that Test if Giles’s replacement Monty Panesar had been fielding in hisplace. It’s enough to give anyone the shivers.Early arrivals were also entertained by Paul Collingwood giving Panesarfielding lessons on the boundary. His dives across the grass may have beenmore elephant than elegant, but the practice appears to have worked today- Panesar was confident and without error in the field.

After a spot of fancy-dress wrestling that began to show worrying signs offalling into Fight Club territory, it was back to the stands as the sunsplit the crowds. After the umpires decided to ignore the splashes causedby rolling a ball across the outfield, Edgbaston eventually had thecontinuation of a Test match. There’s a reason why England love playinghere – the buzz never ceases, the roar rarely loses its monstrous pitch.Unfortunately, it could hardly be said the wait was worth it. Unless, ofcourse, you’re Sri Lankan. Michael Vandort and Tillakaratne Dilshan playedbeautifully and the Edgbaston crowd had the experience of watching anEngland attack lacking in ideas for the second successive Test. Dilshan’swicket late-on lifted the crowd to fever pitch, but it was more indesperation than expectancy.Prior to the wicket, the biggest talking point was the absence of GaryPratt, England’s supersub and Ponting’s nemesis. Liam Plunkett did notappear at the start due to falling heavily on a shoulder, but hisreplacement wasn’t Pratt, it was his Durham team-mate Gary Scott. So, withDurham not playing, just where was Pratt? Is he ducking the limelight? Orperhaps the 6’6” haulking Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody is too much of aterrifying prospect to upset. Whatever the reason, it would have beenunlikely that Pratt would have found a warmer, more entertaining receptionthan the one offered by the beleaguered-but-merry Edgbaston crowd.

Security has been stepped up at the Hilton Hotel in Port-of-Spain hotel following the today which led to the evacuation of the Pakistan and South Africa teams.Although there will be more police on duty at the hotel, tournament organisers insist that even though Wednesday’s incident was under investigation, there had been no direct threat to either South Africa, Pakistan or Canada and Ireland who are also based here.”The law enforcement agencies in Trinidad and Tobago have indicated that the incident was not directed towards any of the teams,” a tournament spokesman said, “and additional policing has been put in place on the property.”Representatives from all four teams have met with the acting police commissioner Glen Roach and been assured of their safety. The safety and security of the players and officials for the tournament is of paramount importance and we continue to work with the appropriate authorities to this end. We thank the local security directorate and police force for their swift and decisive action.”At first it was thought that a fire had broken out inside the hotel but the hotel later insisted the problem had been a gas leak.

Two days on from an ultimately emphatic victory in Durban, Graeme Smith was confident that his South African side held the edge going into the decisive third Test at Newlands. But while he cited the special atmosphere at the venue, Smith was slightly concerned about the moisture in the pitch, and the physical and emotional toll that the Durban exertions had taken on his players.”It’s a difficult pitch to read at the moment,” he said when asked about a surface that had more than a hint of grass. “Because of the [recent] rain, there’s some moisture. There will be a little bit in it on the first day and as the surface dries, it’ll be a pretty good wicket.”Durban saw South Africa at their hungriest, battered by criticism after a 123-run defeat at the Wanderers. Even at Kingsmead, they had to dig deep to emerge victorious against an Indian side for whom Sreesanth once again picked up eight wickets in the game. “Mentally and emotionally, we’ve got to pick ourselves up and make sure we’re ready for the Test,” said Smith. “It was quite an emotional win in Durban after the week we had building up to the match. The guys are motivated, focussed, and we really want to win the series.”They will doubtless be boosted by the return of Jacques Kallis, who missed the Kingsmead game with a back injury, and Dale Steyn is also back in the fray after recovering from a quadriceps strain. But any joy over Kallis’s return is tempered by the uncertainty over Andrè Nel, who didn’t bowl at nets today after bruising a bone in his right foot.One man who will definitely play is Paul Harris, with Smith expecting the pitch to take turn as the match wore on. And though he was a little wary of what Anil Kumble might do, Smith insisted that he and his side wanted to end the engagements against India as they had started in the one-day series. “We just had one bad game at the Wanderers,” he said. “By and large, we’ve played better cricket. That confidence is there. But for Wanderers, we have dominated the Indians throughout the summer.”One of the Indians to suffer most has been Virender Sehwag, who has a highest score of 33 from four ODIs and two Tests. “All the areas we’ve attacked him have been successful,” said Smith. “Obviously, he’s very low on confidence; we haven’t allowed him to get off to a start. The way we started against him, we have made the first ten balls count, haven’t allowed him to find any rhythm upfront. Our channels to him, Sachin [Tendulkar] and others have been pretty good.”Smith, who has been through the wringer himself as a batsman in recent times, stopped short of writing off Sehwag though. “He’s a guy who can take the game away from you,” he said. “If he gets a hundred, he gets it in quick time and can put you under pressure. He’s a big cog in the Indian team; he’s had a huge run of success over the years. As a senior player, to keep him on the back foot is important.”But if the pitch plays anything like that on which Stuart Clark took 9 for89 not so long ago, Sehwag won’t be the only one on the back foot.

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Kamran Akmal scored a quickfire 69 off 49 balls to guide Pakistan to an easy six-wicket win in their second practice match against Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) President’s XI in Jaipur.Chasing 199, Akmal opened the innings with Mohammad Hafeez and the pair put on 86, scoring at a quick clip. An occasional opener, Akmal scored 58 of his runs in boundaries, including three sixes. All the Pakistan batsmen had a good hit in the middle, including Shahid Afridi, who also tonked three sixes in his 28. Faisal Iqbal and Shoaib Malik coasted past the target in the 33rd over.The Pakistan bowlers however failed to role over the opposition, as RCA XI chose to get bat out the 50 overs, losing only four wickets in the process. Choosing to bat first, the RCA openers, Mumbai’s Rohit Sharma, and S Vijay got off to a good start, adding 54 in just over ten overs till Umar Gul got the first breakthrough.Rahul Kanwat and Nikhil Doru both scored half centuries and looked at ease against the Pakistan attack. Doru remained unbeaten on 51 at the close, with captain Ajay Jadeja.

New Zealand retained the out-of-form duo of Martin Guptill and Mark Craig as they pruned their Test squad from 16 to 12 for the two-match home series against Sri Lanka that begins on December 10. Opening the batting on their just-concluded tour of Australia, Guptill made a highest score of 23 in his six Test innings, while the offspinner Craig picked up eight wickets at an average of 64.12 while conceding more than five runs an over.Out of the squad that toured Australia, New Zealand left out fast bowlers Matt Henry and Mitchell McClenaghan, back-up wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi and back-up opener Hamish Rutherford. Allrounders Corey Anderson and James Neesham, who are both nursing back injuries, were not available for selection.”Mark and Martin didn’t perform to the level they would have liked over in Australia, but both have shown in the past what they’re capable of and we’re confident they’ll make valuable contributions in the upcoming series,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said.Left-arm seamer Neil Wagner and allrounder Mitchell Santner, who made his debut during the day-night Test in Adelaide, also kept their places in the squad. Wagner didn’t play any of the Tests in Australia, but picked-up a five-wicket haul in a tour game against a Western Australia XI.”The level of composure Mitchell showed on debut was very impressive and he certainly displayed how exciting a player he is with both the bat and ball,” Hesson said. “His ability to bat in the top six and bowl good overs gives us options and assists the team balance. We’re looking forward to watching Mitchell’s continued development. Neil impressed in Australia and not only showed that he’ll run in hard all day, but was swinging the ball again.”Wagner has also been included in the New Zealand Board President’s XI, which will take on the Sri Lankans in a three-day warm-up match that begins on December 3.Test squad Brendon McCullum (capt), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane WilliamsonPresident’s XI: Ryan McCone (capt), James Baker, Joe Carter, Joel Harden, Shawn Hicks, Tim Johnston, Ken McClure, Matt McEwan, Glenn Phillips, Bharat Popli, Ben Smith, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner

Mike Atherton will replace Christopher Martin-Jenkins as cricket correspondent of after England’s tour of New Zealand early next year.Atherton, who has made his name as a journalist on , and is considered one of the major successes of a player becoming a writer, will continue with his Sky Sports commentary alongside his new brief. Martin-Jenkins, who was handed the Peter Smith memorial award at the Cricket Writers’ Dinner in September, will take a role as senior cricket columnist.It is the first major reshuffle of the broadsheet newspapers since 2002 when Angus Fraser retired from playing to take up the main role at and Derek Pringle moved to .

South Australian selectors have reacted savagely today to their team’s recent poor form, dumping four players from the side which suffered an innings defeat at the hands of Tasmania in a Pura Cup match earlier this week.Batsmen Ben Higgins, wicketkeeper Graham Manou, leg spinner Peter McIntyre and paceman Mark Harrity have all been omitted from the Redbacks’ squad for the vital match against Western Australia starting in Perth on Wednesday.They have been replaced by batsmen Shane Deitz and Daniel Harris, all-rounder Ryan Harris and fast bowler Paul Wilson. Deitz is also expected to assume the wicketkeeping duties in the absence of Manou.It will be the first time that Manou has missed a match for South Australia for three seasons. Conversely, Wilson – who underwent knee surgery in October – is likely to appear in a first-class game for the first time this summer.The Redbacks have dropped from second to fourth on the Pura Cup table as a result of their defeat to the Tigers, and are now in grave danger of failing to qualify for the Final of the competition.They would need to collect maximum points in their match in Perth, and hope that Tasmania failed to secure an outright victory over New South Wales in Hobart, in order to reach the decider.The full squad is: Greg Blewett (c), Nathan Adcock, Chris Davies, Shane Deitz, David Fitzgerald, Daniel Harris, Ryan Harris, Ben Johnson, Paul Rofe, Mike Smith, Paul Wilson, Brad Young.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

It was déjà vu all over again as Sri Lanka, boosted by Kumar Sangakkara’s double hundred, stamped their authority for the second day in succession at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium. With the cushion of a 389-run lead, captain Mahela Jayawardene had no hesitation in declaring the innings immediately after Sangakkara reached his landmark, giving his bowlers a shot at the Bangladesh top order.Bangladesh needed to ensure they had all ten wickets in hand going intothe third day, and the racy start provided by their openers – Javed Omarand Shahriar Nafees – was encouraging. Unfortunately, reality hit themhard after Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando struck four quick blows toleave them in tatters at 69 for 4. Another massive innings defeat loomed.The loss of those late wickets was a reflection of Bangladesh’s biggestweakness. The bowlers and batsmen together struggled to maintain themomentum after the initial euphoria. Despite restricting the scoring inthe morning on a pitch which slowed down considerably after the openingday, the visitors failed to cling on to opportunities that came their wayafter Malinda Warnapura’s early dismissal, caught at midwicket.Mahela poked at a delivery by Mashrafe Mortaza just outside the off stumpand the outside edge bisected an unusually large gap between MushfiqurRahim, the wicketkeeper, and Habibul Bashar at first slip. A thickishoutside edge off Sangakkara’s bat fell short of Mortaza at slip and racedto the third-man boundary, a half-chance that was to prove extremelycostly.Mohammad Rafique later spilled perhaps the easiest of return catches offMahela and it stung further when he and Sangakkara latched onto him andpushed the scoring towards lunch.Shahadat, undeterred by those lapses, was the most potent among thebowlers, landing the ball on a good length and getting appreciable lift.Unfortunately, he lacked support as Mortaza and Mohammad Sharif were offcolour and didn’t really threaten the batsmen with pace or bounce.Shahadat’s aggression was evident with his persistent grunting, much tothe ire of Mahela, who appealed twice to the umpires. Shahadat had thelast laugh when Mahela mistimed a pull straight after lunch. The bowler’scelebration said it all.

Sangakkara was more prepared to bide his time at the crease as heapproached his hundred. Several full deliveries on off stump were pushedstraight to the fielders as he struggled to get the placement right.However, he gained in confidence as lunch approached and reached threefigures with an emphatic six over Rafique’s head.With the seamers operating from both ends with the new ball after lunch,Chamara Silva and Sangakkara settled into a nice rhythm, with the ballcoming on to the bat easily. The pair added a quick 50 off just 68 ballsand the frustration began to show in a brief passage of play, as thefielders conceded overthrows off successive balls.Silva’s urgency spurred Sangakkara to up the tempo and he did so in style.He found the gaps with precision, taking both Shahadat and Mortaza totask. Sensing that the seamers weren’t effective enough, Mohammad Ashrafulthrew the ball to Mehrab Hossain Jnr at the fag end of the session and itpaid dividends as he struck twice in the same over.Silva could consider himself unlucky after replays suggested that the batmay have struck the ground while attempting an expansive cover-drive. Twoballs later, Tillekaratne Dilshan misread the flight and wascomprehensively bowled while giving him the charge.Prasanna Jayawardene hung around for a brief while before throwing awayhis wicket, giving Javed Omar the easiest of catches at mid-on. Vaashelped himself to a breezy unbeaten 30, allowing Sangakkara reach hislandmark at his own pace.When they emerged to bat, Nafees and Omar showed no signs of weariness,and anthing overpitched or off target was put away off the meat of thebat. Nafees was the first victim, edging to Prasanna while going for anoff-drive off Vaas. Dilhara Fernando’s first over was forgettable,conceding three consecutive boundaries to Omar, but he was soon among thewickets when he sent back Rajin Saleh, inducing an outside edge which waspouched brilliantly by Mahela at second slip.It soon became 55 for 3 when Vaas ended Omar’s cameo, trapping him infront. Fernando removed Mehrab, playing on for the second time insuccession. Bashar and Ashraful batted out the last few overs and wouldneed to bat out a lot more, with their side trailing by a massive 320 runs.Yet again, it seemed as though there was only pride left to play for.