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Former Sri Lankan cricket captain Mahela Jayawardene carrying a charity till lends a hand to a young boy climbing down a staircase to greet him during a charity walk in the central town of Thambuttegama today. Continue Reading

Sri Lanka won the first “Group A” match against Canada by 210 runs at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium a short while ago.

The Sri Lankan’s batting first scored  332 runs in their 50 over for the loss of  7 wickets while, Canada were bowled out for 122 runs in the 36.5 overs. Continue Reading

LONDON (AFP) -Glamorgan's decision to appoint South Africa opener Alviro Petersen as their new captain led former skipper Jamie Dalrymple to quit the troubled Welsh county on Thursday.

The former England off-spinner said he had “no respect” for club chairman Paul Russell.

His exit, and that of club president Peter Walker, came just a day after cricket manager Matthew Maynard left the Cardiff-based club rather than accept a demotion to coach.

“I have today (Thursday) resigned from Glamorgan county cricket club with immediate effect,” Dalrymple said in a statement.

“I've done so because Glamorgan have effectively dismissed me by removing the captaincy from me, recruiting a new post above Matthew Maynard and me, recruiting a new overseas player and captain in Alviro Petersen.

“All of this without consultation or prior notification with me. This has rendered my position at the club untenable.

“The first I knew of any of these fundamental management and cricket decisions was on Monday afternoon when the chairman Paul Russell phoned to inform me of a fait accompli.

“I understand the club's right to remove the captaincy at their discretion and I recognise that the results in one-day cricket are not yet at a level we were happy with.”

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LONDON (AFP) -England would love for Kevin Pietersen to rediscover his 'inner skunk' during the upcoming Ashes series.

The South Africa-born shotmaker's flamboyant hairstyle that he paraded during his debut Test campaign, against Australia in 2005, was symbolic of a dynamic approach that was at odds with the often crippling diffidence of many native English cricketers.Here was a batsman taking on the likes of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, his then county captain at Hampshire and a player whose self-confidence was perhaps even greater than that of Pietersen.

Having been selected ahead of veteran Graham Thorpe, Pietersen capped the 2005 Ashes with an audacious innings of 158 at The Oval that saw him thrill fans with his trademark 'flamingo' whip shot and extraordinary swept sixes off leg-spinner Warne.

But having appeared destined for greatness, Pietersen – who averages over 50 in his 12 Tests against Australia – has recently been experiencing the type of form slump more associated with lesser mortals.

He has not scored a Test hundred since reaching three figures against the West Indies in Trinidad in March last year.

An Achilles injury that ruled him out of most of England's victorious 2009 Ashes campaign has not helped a player who likes to take big strides forward at the crease.

And there is also the sense that, mentally, he has not come to terms with the loss of the England captaincy.

Following Michael Vaughan's retirement, England were keen to have one captain for all formats and, at the time, Pietersen was just about the only candidate who fitted the bill.

But, after taking over in 2008, his brief tenure in the post ended early the following year.

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MADRID (Reuters) – Former world number one Carlos Moya fought back tears on Wednesday as he formally announced his retirement from tennis at the age of 34 due to a recurring foot injury.

At a news conference in Madrid attended by family, friends and former players, including Manolo Santana and Albert Costa, the 1998 French Open champion said he would play one more event, in Seville in December, before ending his 15-year career.

Clad in a dark blazer, a white and blue-striped shirt open at the neck and blue jeans, the Spaniard welled up and had to make frequent pauses to compose himself as he announced his decision and thanked friends, family, his coaching and support staff, sponsors and fans.

The foot injury had plagued him for several years and he had been unable to shake it off despite consulting a host of different doctors, he explained.

“I wanted to say goodbye at some of the big tournaments, the grand slams, but that dream wasn't to be,” said Moya, who was runner-up to Pete Sampras at the 1997 Australian Open.

“I am still young for life but for sport I am already knocking on a bit,” he said, adding that his immediate plans were to rest and spend time at home with his partner and baby daughter Carla, who was born in August.

He will also make an appearance at the ATP World Tour finals in London next week. “But not to play,” he joked.

Moya, a right-hander unlike his friend and current number one Rafa Nadal, who is also from Majorca, won the first of 20 career titles on his favoured clay in Buenos Aires in 1995.

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GUANGZHOU, China, Nov 19, 2010 (AFP) – Kuwaiti shooters won their country's first gold medals at the ongoing Asian Games on Friday even as hosts China admitted their firm grip on the ranges had loosened.

Kuwait, whose only previous medal at Guangzhou was a silver in bowling, won both the team and individual titles in the men's trap as the action shifted outdoors to the Guangzhou Shotgun Centre.

Yukie Nakayama of Japan brought some relief to her corruption-tainted home federation by winning the women's trap gold medal as China cruised to victory in the team event.

It took China's gold medal haul at the ranges to 16 from the 36 events held so far, followed by South Korea (13), North Korea (three), Kuwait (two) and Japan and Kazakhstan with one each.

With just eight more events left, China's hopes of matching their 27 golds at the Doha Asiad four years ago ended, leading to a stern warning from the country's legendary head coach Wang Yifu.

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SYDNEY (AFP) -Michael Clarke has been one of Australia's best-performing Test batsmen and is anointed to take over from Ricky Ponting as captain but he has been doing plenty of defending ahead of the Ashes series.

Clarke, an elegant batsman with an Ashes average of almost 56 in 15 Tests, has been groomed to become the next Test skipper, yet he has had to fend off rumours of a dressingroom rift with teammates and apparent downright antipathy towards him from fans.

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LONDON (AFP) -That England now have a realistic chance of winning an Ashes series in Australia for the first time since 1986/87 says much for the leadership skills of Andrew Strauss.

His rise to the captaincy was not as smooth as that of fellow opening batsman Michael Atherton – dubbed 'Future England Captain' early in his career at Lancashire – but the wait appears to have been worthwhile.

Educated at Radley — the English public school that produced Ted Dexter — Strauss's batting approach bears few traces of the kind of amateur style associated with 'Lord Ted'.

Strong square on both sides of the wicket, left-hander Strauss took to Test cricket instantly, making a century and 83 on his debut against New Zealand at Lord's, his Middlesex home ground, in 2004.

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By  BIPIN   DANI

 Indian-origin batsman, Kumar Sarna has hit the highest score ever in Twenty20 cricket by smashing 228 not out off just 65 balls in a suburban match in Melbourne.

 Playing for Wonga Park in the Ringwood and District Cricket Association, Sarna hit 22 sixes and 17 fours against Croydon North.

Speaking exclusively to this scribe over telephone from his Melbourne residence, he said, "Yes, I think it is a world record and I am proud of it".

 The 19-year-old batsman's double century helped his team score 277 for four, and win the match by 148 runs.

 "I was in an attacking mode and In don't think the opposite team was weak. The bowlers bowled decent lines and lengths, I managed to have a good time on the crease, and was timing/hitting the ball well", he further added.

 The national cpatains, Ricky Ponting (Test) and Michael Clarke (ODI and Twenty20) have not yet congratulated to the lad. "The Austrlian Cricket team would be busy at the moment in preparing for the ashes I presume". "But I am keen to reach higher levels", he hoped.

Sarna was born in India and came to Australia with his parents and sister when he was two. "We shifted to Australia due to my father Rajinder Sarna (Ph.d in Physics) getting contracted as a research Physicist (Scientist) here at Monash University, Melbourne", he says further.

 "Our close relatives are still there in India. We last visited India in Jan 2010 for IPL- Kolkata Knight Riders  – I hold an Overseas Indian Citizenship (OCI – dual citizenship) with an Australian passport. I had trouble playing as a local citizen there (with OCI) and my case went to Delhi Court with some other sports people of India involved", he added.

"Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara", are my favourite players, he signed off.

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An all round performance by the skipper of the touring England’s women cricket team Charlotte Edwards helped the side to a comfortable eight wicket win over their Sri Lanka counterparts in the first match of the three match T20 series played at the NCC ground yesterday.

Charlotte using her experience to the hilt came off good when it matter most as she bagged three crucial wickets when the home team was threatening to make amends through a stand of 35 between Eshani Kaushalya and skipper Shashikala Siriwardena.

The Lankan skipper Shashikala having won the toss and deciding to take first lease of the wicket were given a sound start by openers Chamari Atapattu and Inoka Galagedera who together put on 24 runs.

But three wickets within the space of four balls saw the Lankans sliding to 25 for 3. It was the fourth wicket stand of 35 which saved the Lankans which was also the only sensible piece of batting which came throughout the inning.

Skipper Charlotte unsettled the Sri Lanka batting in the middle order after spinner Danielle Hazell donethe early damage as from a healthy 60 for 3 in the 13th over the home team slid to 76 for 8 in the 18th over losing six wickets for the addition of only 18 runs.

An unbroken 19 runs stand for the ninth wicket between Deepika Rasangika and Sripali Weerakkody saw the home team end their innings making a respectable 95.

England in their run chase and possessing a strong battling line up, the target of 96 for the home side was going to be insufficient to defend. Skipper Charlotte who opened the inning with Laura Marsh gave the side a solid start.

The pair put on 73 runs before they were separated in the fifth ball of the tenth over with the dismissal of Laura who made a valuable 29 from just 25 balls

Claire Taylor one of their batswoman was unable to make any headway being dismissed after adding 16 runs with her skipper. But Charlotte who was unfortunate to missed out on a half ton by two runs along Lydia Greenway guided the England side to a comfortable victory with more than four overs to spare.

The two sides will meet again when they clash in the second game on Sunday at the same venue.

Sri Lanka Women 95 for 8 in 20 overs (Shashikala Siriwardena 22, Eshani Kaushalya 19: Charlotte Edwards 3 for 21, Danielle Hazell 2 for 15)

England Women 99 for 2 in 15.4 overs (Laura Marsh 29, Charlotte Edwards 48 n.o.Deepika Rasangika 2 for 19) -MSA

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