Anderson suffers injury

Colombo: England fast bowler James Anderson suffered an ankle injury on Monday and could be doubtful for the first Test against Sri Lanka at the weekend. Anderson did not bowl in the second innings against a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI and joined fellow paceman Steve Harmison on the treatment table. Matthew Hoggard claimed five for 25 to leave the President’s XI reeling on 77 for eight in their second innings. England had earlier collapsed to 134 all out in their first innings, conceding a 164-run first innings deficit.

Ex-Ranji player dies

New Delhi: Former Delhi Ranji cricketer Gyaneshwar Prasad Thapliyal died after losing a one-year battle against cancer in Mumbai. Thapliyal was receiving treatment for cancer in Nanavati Hospital before breathing his last Sunday evening, his family said Monday. Thapliyal, who was 69, was cremated this morning. He is survived by wife, a son and a daughter. He played 68 first-class matches from 1958-74 for Delhi and Southern Punjab and was the first cricketer from North Zone to pick nine wickets in an innings.

Setback for MacGill

Sydney: Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill’s hopes of recovering full fitness ahead of next month’s opening Test against India have been hit hard after his withdrawal from a lead-up domestic game. MacGill, who struggled with knee problems in Australia’s second Test win over Sri Lanka in Hobart last week, has been left out of the New South Wales side to play Victoria in a four-day Sheffield Shield game later this week.

Atapattu adamant

Gurgaon: Former Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu Monday said the ICL venture should be looked upon as an employment opportunity rather than a challenge to the existing set up. “It should be treated as a career chosen by a cricketer. They (the boards) are not doing any good by putting sanctions,” Atapattu said. He added he continues to stand by his “muppets headed by a joker” comment but rejected suggestions that the tiff had any bearing on his decision to give up international cricket.

Bangla squad

Dhaka: Bangladesh have axed opener Shahriar Nafees to accommodate Junaid Siddiqui in a 15-man one-day squad to tour New Zealand from next month. Left-hand batsman Siddiqui was named Man of the Match in a ICC World Twenty20 match against Pakistan.

SQUAD

Mohammed Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Mortaza, Javed Omar, Tushar Imran, Abdur Razzak, Saqibul Hasan, Syed Rasel, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shahadat Hossain, Junaid Siddiqui, Farhad Reza, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Tamim Iqbal, Nazmul Hossain.

ITINERARY

Dec. 26: 1st ODI, Auckland; Dec. 28: 2nd ODI, Napier; Dec. 31: 3rd ODI, Queenstown Events Centre; Jan. 4-8: 1st Test, Dunedin; Jan. 12-16: 2nd Test, Wellington