Atapattu to miss New Zealand Tests

Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lankan captain, has ruled himself out of the first half of the New Zealand tour starting later this month. Atapattu, 35, said that he was not ready to return to Test cricket and would concentrate on the one-day game until he felt confident.

Atapattu underwent surgery for a recurring back injury in April to remove disc material that that was touching a troubled nerve, and returned for Sri Lanka's Champions Trophy campaign. "I was quite comfortable playing in the Champions trophy and did not feel any pain at all," Atapattu told reporters. "But I am taking precautions to ensure that I don't get a relapse of the injury. If it gets to me again I know how tough it is going to be. I don't want to rush into things too soon but take it one step at a time."

Sri Lanka open up their tour with two Test matches, but Atapattu made himself available only for the two Twenty20 matches and the five-match one-day series starting on December 22.

Mahela Jayawardene, who stepped in after Atapattu withdrew from the tour to Bangladesh in March, has been retained as captain until the end of the Word Cup.

http://usa.cricinfo.com/srilanka/con...ry/267485.html

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

They need attapatu for test cricket.

__________________
[I]Mohsin. Z. Butt[/I]
[B]Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you deny???[/B] : Surah Rehman.
[B]"Those who imitate a nation,is then one of them"[/B] : Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam

Two new SL players selected for NZ tour

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka have selected uncapped middle-order batsman Chamara Silva and pace bowler Akalanka Ganegama for their two-Test tour of New Zealand starting this month.

Silva, 26, who has played 10 One-day Internationals (ODIs), takes the place of opener Michael Vandort. Ganegama, 25, has also won a place in the 14-man squad after bowling well for the A team during their current tour of India. Ganegama has played four ODIs but no Tests. He has been included for the Tests only and will be replaced by left-armer Ruchira Perera for the five-match ODI series which follows.

Marvan Atapattu has opted out of the Test leg of the tour after back surgery in May. Mahela Jayawardene was officially confirmed as captain for both legs of the tour with Kumar Sangakkara named as the vice-captain.

The Sri Lankan squad leave for New Zealand on November 25 and play one warm-up game against Otago before the first Test starting on December 7. The tour includes Tests in Christchurch and Wellington, five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals.

Test team: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene, Farvez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Akalanka Ganegama and Muttiah Muralitharan.

One-day team: Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Jayasuriya, Tharanga, Marvan Atapattu, Dilshan, Kapugedera, Silva, Maharoof, Vaas, Malinga, Fernando, Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara and Ruchira Perera.

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=32015

Bond fit for SL Test

CHRISTCHURCH: Shane Bond is raring to go for New Zealand in their forthcoming Tests against Sri Lanka. Rumours had been circulating that Bond, the fast bowler, would miss the two-Test series which starts on December 7, in order to rest his troubled back ahead of the feast of one-dayers which follow the Tests. But Bond confirmed that he was keen to play in the Tests as well as the VB series, the Chappell-Hadlee series and then the WC in March. He sat out Canterbury’s match in the State Championship which concluded on Saturday, but he practiced bowling during lunch and was in no visible pain. He is now available for their next game, which is at home against Northern Districts and starts on Wednesday.

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=32437

Atapattu missing the test5 doesn't mean alot to Srilanka, if u look at his performances

Srinath to officiate in New Zealand

Former Indian pace spearhead Javagal Srinath was today named Match Referee of Sri Lanka's two-Test and five-ODI tour of New Zealand beginning next month.

Srinath, a member of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, will officiate in the Tests in Christchurch (7-11 December) and Wellington (15-19 December).

ICC Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel and Brian Jerling of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires have been appointed to stand in both those Tests.

Steve Davis of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires has been appointed to stand in each of the five ODIs that will take place between 28 December and 9 January. The host board will appoint the other for each match.

Meanwhile, the ICC has also announced umpire and match referee appointments for upcoming Test and ODI series in South Africa and Bangladesh.

Ranjan Madugalle, chief referee on the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, will oversee Zimbabwe's tour of Bangladesh beginning on November 30.

Suresh Shastri and Nadeem Ghauri of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires will stand in the five-match ODI series between the two teams.

http://www.cricketzone.com/news/stories/20061120-1.html

Sinclair picked for first Test against Sri Lanka

Mathew Sinclair had a great domestic season last year averaging 51.64

Craig Cumming and Mathew Sinclair return to Test cricket after being picked in New Zealand's 13-man squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka starting December 7 at Christchurch.

Sinclair last played a Test against Australia in Adelaide in 2004-05. John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, said that he had been picked on the basis on his performance in the last season.

Sinclair played nine first-class games in New Zealand's State Championship in 2005-06 and made 723 runs with three hundreds and five half-centuries at 51.64. "In the end, it came down to a sheer weight of runs compared with the other possible candidates," said Bracewell. "We are rewarding guys who have been successful in the early rounds of the domestic competition."

Iain O'Brien and Michael Mason, Bracewell said, were returning to the Test squad from injury. "O'Brien has been the form bowler, especially his performances on very good batting strips, and Mason's efforts have been very encouraging."

Hamish Marshall was not included after a string of poor scores and a Test average of 14.57 for 2005-06. In fact only Jamie How got picked from the four openers tried out in New Zealand's tour to South Africa in April and May this year. Michael Papps, the opener for the second and third Tests against South Africa, is out due to injury along with Scott Styris and Kyle Mills. Mills was troubled by an ankle injury during the South African tour and has not played any first-class games this season. He will be assessed by the medical staff on December 4.

One player will be released from the squad a day before the beginning of the Test.

Squad Mathew Sinclair, Jamie How, Craig Cumming, Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Chris Martin, Michael Mason, Iain O'Brien

http://usa.cricinfo.com/nzvsl/conten...ry/270719.html

Sri Lanka look to better away record

Sri Lanka may look the better side on paper ahead of the first Test at Christchurch - with New Zealand missing bowlers Kyle Mills, Michael Mason and allrounder Scott Styris to injury - but their poor away record may go against them.

Since May 2004, Sri Lanka have won six Tests out of the 16 they have played away from home - two each against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, while one each against Pakistan and England. They lost 1-0 to New Zealand when they visited the country in 2004-05 - an innings defeat at Wellington where Lou Vincent made 224, his highest score in Test cricket.

"Our record in that area isn't as good as we'd like it to be in that area," the Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody told the New Zealand Herald. "But we did pretty well in England and we're looking forward to making more progress in New Zealand."

Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper-batsman, said what the team had to do was quickly adapt to the conditions that they were to play in. "With the volume of cricket we've played [England, South Africa and the Champions Trophy] and the conditions we've been through, we've adapted very well. Right now the guys have no complaints. The thing is to stay positive, choose the right ball in the right zones and commit 100 per cent to scoring off them."

Sangakkara did not keep wickets in Sri Lanka's tour match against Otago, the gloves instead being handed over to Prasanna Jayawardene, who had stood behind the stumps for the two Tests against South Africa at home in July this year. While Upul Tharanga, the Sri Lankan opening batsman, got a century against Otago, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara managed half-centuries in the drawn match. Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas sat out the game.

New Zealand are certainly not taking the two-Test series easily. "We beat them quite comprehensively [in 2004-05] but it's probably not a true reflection of the side they are at the moment," said Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand left-arm spinner. "The last time we saw them they were probably at the start of an upward curve."

Chris Lewis, the turf manager of Jade Stadium, said that the pitch will favour batsmen. "If the seamers get to bowl first on it they'll like it but after a couple of days it will flatten out and keep going and going," Lewis told the Stuff website. But Shane Bond, the New Zealand fast bowler, was sceptical that the pitch would offer assistance to the bowlers on the first two days. "The Waikari [soil] can be deceiving," said Bond. "I've turned up to games here where it's green and you've won the toss and its done nothing."

With Mills and Mason out, Bond is likely to partner with Iain O'Brien for the new ball.

http://usa.cricinfo.com/nzvsl/conten...ry/271390.html

New Zealand v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Christchurch

Mason to miss first Test

Michael Mason has been ruled out of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Christchurch with a hamstring strain. Mason suffered the injury in the final stages of Central Districts' loss to Northern Districts in the State Championship on Saturday, when he took 3 for 74 from 25 overs.

Mason was considered a realistic chance of playing ahead of James Franklin in the Test match starting on Thursday. It would have been only his second Test after making his debut against South Africa at Wellington in early 2004.

But New Zealand confirmed that although Mason's injury had improved since the weekend, he was still not 100 percent fit and would not be risked. Mason will also miss Central Districts' next State Championship match but he is expected to be available for the second Test against Sri Lanka starting in Wellington next Friday.

Mason's omission leaves New Zealand with a squad of 12 for the first Test, with either Franklin or Iain O'Brien likely to be left out of the starting line-up.

http://usa.cricinfo.com/nzvsl/conten...ry/271379.html

So.. All discussion goes in here!
Oops first wicket out already!
11/1 Bond get's Jayasurya after being hit for four!
Would have been great watching this!

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/nzvsl/engine/current/match/251485.html

LOL: And here's another odd fact: Your commentators for today and the remaining days are George Binoy and Binoy George. I'm not kidding, we're two different people.

SL is 64-3

at lunch SL is 77-3
all 3 wickets for Bond. strange batting lineup for SL with Jayawedene opening and Jayasuriya coming at #4 and Vaas at 5.

Jaysuriya Opened and Jaywerdena came at 4 ...Vaas wont come at 5

I just started following the match and looked at the scorecard at bbc
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/shared/.../scorecard.stm