Sri Lankan skipper T.M. Dilshan has not yet decided whether he would play for today’s match. “Final decision would be taken during the practice sessions in the next few hours”, Dilshan said. The five match one day series between Sri Lanka and England will kick off today with the first match being played at Oval.
(JNW)
June 28, 2011 at 2:15 pm
The government is working hard to obtain pardon from Saudi authorities for the Sri Lankan house maid Rizana Nafeek who has been sentenced for death, Minister Dilan Perera said. Certain media institutions are in attempt to define the execution as a new policy of the Saudi government, the Minister said. They have even given it the publicity by sending a news alert, he added. However, those media institutions should not have used the incident to fulfill their objectives in media wise. With the mediation of the President, the execution of Rizana Nafeek has been temporarily suspended. Therefore, the Minister urged the media to act with more responsibility.
(JNW)
June 28, 2011 at 9:56 am
President Mahinda Rajapakse visited the Nomads grounds this evening(27) to inspect the construction activities of the National Performing Arts Theater which has reached its final stage. The theater is considered as another symbol of China – Sri Lanka friendship. A sum of 3,080 million rupees has been spent for the construction activities so far. Out of it 40 percent were received by China as a donation. The rest has been given away as an interest free grant. The structure of the building is similar to the lotus pond in Polonnaruwa. The five storey theater is equipped with all modern facilities.
(JNW)
June 27, 2011 at 9:17 pm
Sri Lanka will be able to see the Asteroid titled as “2011 MB” passing earth at 10.30 tonight(27), Senior Lecturer in Physics at University of Colombo Dr. Chandana Jayarathne said. “However the asteroid could only be seen by telescope. The NASA institute might have a webcast on how the asteroid is passing the earth”, he added.
(JNW)
June 27, 2011 at 7:42 pm
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, accusing him of crimes against humanity. The court had grounds to believe he had ordered attacks on civilians during Libya’s four-month uprising, it said. The Hague-based court also issued warrants for two of Col Gaddafi’s top aides – his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi.
Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the conflict.
Anti-Gaddafi forces said on Monday(27) they had launched a new push towards Tripoli. there has been heavy fighting near the strategic town of Bir al-Ghanam, to the south-west of capital.
(BBC)
June 27, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has ordered to finish the resettlement activities in Mullaitivu by August. 1737 families in uncleared areas to be resettled in Kaiweli area, Commander Security Forces Mullaittivu Major General L B R Mark said.
(JNW)
June 27, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Minimum floor rate for a outgoing call from one network to another reduced from Rs.2/- to Rs. 1.50/- per minute with effect from 1st week of July, the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has announced.
(JNW)
June 27, 2011 at 4:20 pm
The International Cricket Council’s chief executives’ committee has unanimously agreed to make a modified version of the Decision Review System (DRS) mandatory in all international matches. The mandatory terms and conditions for the DRS that have now been recommended to the Executive Board for approval on Tuesday will now consist of “thermal imaging” and “sound technology” with the “ball-tracker” having been removed from the ICC’s original compulsory list of DRS technologies.
This means that India will, for the first time since 2008, be agreeable to using the DRS in a bilateral series when it tours England from July onwards.
However the DRS used in the England-India series will be without the Hawk-Eye ball-tracker which means line decisions for lbw appeals cannot be referred. For example, if the ball pitches outside leg stump and the batsman is given out lbw, the lack of ball-tracking technology means he cannot question the decision. On the other hand, if a batsman is given out lbw and he thinks there is an inside-edge involved, he can get the decision reviewed since Hot Spot can resolve whether there is an edge.
Hot Spot, the “thermal imaging” technology now available and made mandatory in the DRS, will mostly be used for close-in catches and edges.
The committee also decided that the continued use of the ball-tracking technology as a decision-making aid, will depend on the bilateral arrangement between the participating teams.
(ESPN)
June 27, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Sri Lanka Air Force has sent a Bell 212 helicopter to help put out a forest fire in Knuckles Range in Welangala, Air Force spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasooriya said.
(JNW)
June 27, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Bangladesh have announced that Stuart Law will be their next coach, succeeding Jamie Siddons. Law, currently Sri Lanka’s interim coach, will quit that position after the ongoing tour of England and will likely join the Bangladesh team in Dhaka prior to their tour of Zimbabwe.
Law – whose appointment was announced at a press conference in Dhaka on Monday – had served as Sri Lanka’s assistant coach under Trevor Bayliss since 2009 and took charge of the team on a temporary basis, specifically for the tour of England, after Bayliss stepped down post the 2011 World Cup.
He will replace Jamie Siddons, whose contract wasn’trenewed after the World Cup. “I only need to put pen to paper. I have finalised it so the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) can tell you,” Law said. “I asked SLC if they would want me to continue after November but they couldn’t confirm anything so I told them that I won’t continue after the UK tour. The most important thing for me is job security.
“I just have to go back to Sri Lanka to sort out a few things and after I spend some time with my family, I will join the Bangladesh team. I’m not sure if it’ll be two weeks or ten days before the tour to Zimbabwe,” Law said.
One of Marvan Atapattu (batting coach), Ruwan Kalpage (fielding coach) and Champaka Ramanayake (bowling coach) was expected to take over from Law for the remainder of the tour.
(ESPN)
June 27, 2011 at 2:14 pm
June 26, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Chief Executive Officer of the Pakistani Cricket Board says they will allow Pakistani players to take part in the Sri Lankan Premier League that will be played in July.
(JNW)
June 26, 2011 at 8:05 am
The number of adults with diabetes in the world has more than doubled since 1980, according to a new study. Researchers from Imperial College London and Harvard University analysed data from 2.7m people across every continent, using statistical techniques to project a worldwide figure.
They claim the total number of people with diabetes – which can be fatal – has risen from 153m to 347m. The authors called for better detection and treatment to combat the rise. The study was published in The Lancet medical journal.
Its authors said 70% of the rise was down to people living longer.
The rise has been most pronounced in the Pacific Islands. In the Marshall Islands a third of all women have the condition.
(BBC)
June 26, 2011 at 7:47 am
Stuart Broad suffered a crushing defeat by Sri Lanka in his first game in charge of England in the one-off Twenty20 match at Bristol on Saturday(25). Put into bat, the hosts lost two early wickets but raced to 97 with Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan in top form. Lasith Malinga stifled the attack as England stuttered to 136-9 with only one boundary in the final eight overs. Mahela Jayawardene (72) and Kumar Sangakkara (43) pounded the limp offerings as the tourists cruised home.
England 136-9 (20 overs) – Sri Lanka 137-1 (17.2 overs)
(BBC)
June 25, 2011 at 10:01 pm
The anti-doping tribunal of International Cricket Council has accepted Sri Lankan operner Upul Tharanga’s submission that he had ingested the substances by drinking a herbal remedy given to him to ease discomfort caused by a long-standing shoulder injury. “Tharanga had no intention to enhance his sporting performance or to mask the use of another performance enhancing substance, but that he had failed to satisfy the high levels of personal responsibility implicit upon him as an international cricketer subject to anti-doping rules, an ICC statement said.
“Tharanga pleaded guilty to the offence at an early stage in the proceedings and, as mandated under the ICC Code, the tribunal disqualified the rankings points he earned from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.”
“We recognise that Upul has not been found guilty of deliberately cheating, but the ICC maintains its zero-tolerance approach towards doping for the benefit of all its stakeholders,” Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said. “Cases like this serve as a reminder to all players that they must take great care and personal responsibility at all times for the substances that they consume.”
Tharanga has the right to appeal against the tribunal’s decision and must do so within 21 days of receiving the written decision.
(ESPN)
June 25, 2011 at 8:00 am
Upul Tharanga has been suspended for three months from playing cricket after testing positive for taking banned substances – ICC (JNW)
June 24, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Airport luxury train to travel to Habarana tomorrow as a part of a campaign to extend its service to tourist sites-Minister P. Jayarathne (JNW)
June 24, 2011 at 2:42 pm
