Australia: Cricket Australia have announced the return of the traditional one-day international tri-series for next summer, with the host nation taking on India and Sri Lanka.

The governing body announced its fixtures for the 2011/12 international summer today and they include two Tests against New Zealand, four against India, two Twenty20s and then the 12-match Commonwealth Bank Series of one-day internationals.

The tri-series was played for more than 20 years before being replaced four years ago. The season kicks off with the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba from December 1 with the second match to follow at the Bellerive Oval from December 9-13.

The four-Test series against India will be played at the MCG (December 26-30), the SCG (January 3-7), the WACA Ground (January 13-17) and Adelaide Oval (January 24-28) before the Twenty20s against India at the ANZ Stadium (February 1) and the MCG (February 3).

The Commonwealth Bank Series begins at the MCG from February 5 and takes in a pair of matches in Perth, at least three in Adelaide including the second final – and third if required, three in Brisbane and two each in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart.

“Fans will certainly have plenty of variety this summer,” said CA chief executive James Sutherland.

“ICC Cricket World Cup winners India are also the number one ranked Test team in the world at the moment,” he said. “Sri Lanka have also been in great form as we saw in the World Cup, while we know New Zealand are always a formidable opponent as they do well when playing Australia.”

“With the beginning of the ICC World Test Championship we know that every Test win is vital and the Australian team will be keen to start the home season positively against New Zealand,” he added.

Colombo: Sri Lanka all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya has announced that he will retire from international cricket during this month’s tour of England.

After being picked for the Twenty20 international against England and five limited-overs matches, the veteran revealed he will play only the Twenty20 and one ODI.

“I don’t want to share the happiness of being selected to play for Sri Lanka again, but to announce my decision to end my international career of more than 20 years,” Jayasuriya, who will be 42 at the end of the month, told reporters in Colombo today.

“I consider it a privilege to have represented Sri Lanka to bring glory to my country and the town of Matara where I come from. The selectors picked me for the whole series but it was my personal decision to retire midway.”

Jayasuriya, who made his ODI debut in 1989, was originally included in a 16-man squad, despite not playing a limited-overs international for his country since December 2009, while he played his last Twenty20 match a year ago.

He was not included in Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad and failed to secure a contract with a franchise in this year’s Indian Premier League, leading many to believe he would not play international cricket again.

Jayasuriya’s one-day international record is impressive – only Sachin Tendulkar has scored more runs than his 13,428 in ODI action, while he has taken 322 wickets with his left-arm spin.

London: Sri Lanka started in a brilliant fashion at Lords yesterday, picking up three wickets, but since then, it has all been England. Cook and Bell consolidated and the middle order contributed well.

Both Cook and Morgan fell short of their centuries but the last session of the day was the most productive. 177/2 in 36 overs in the final session. England well and truly on top, having reached 342/6. Lakmal was the highest wicket-taker with 3, but apart from the first hour, it wasn’t a great day for the bowlers.

Sri Lanka need to finish off the line up quickly or else this game can go well out of their reach. Alastair Cook couldn’t quite make it three consecutive Test hundreds, falling for 96, and Eoin Morgan departed for a confident 79, but Matt Prior was unbeaten at the close on 73.

The real shift in momentum occurred while Morgan added 101 in 20 overs with Prior during the long final session as Sri Lanka started flagging.

At Stumps Day 1

England 342/6 (in 88 overs) (First innings; Alastair Cook 96, Eoin Morgan 79, Suranga Lakmal 79/3)

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s opening batsman Upul Tharanga will face an inquiry by the International Cricket Council after he tested positive for a banned substance at 2011 World Cup.

Tharanga, who has reportedly been afflicted with asthma, was tested positive for prednisolone, a drug that is used to treat asthma, the report said.

“The ICC will not comment on this as per World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations,” an ICC spokesman said. Sri Lanka Cricket authority in the country too has refused to comment on the incident, saying that they have not been informed of any violations from any agency.

The 26-year-old left-handed opening batsman scored two centuries in the 2011 World Cup tournament, one against Zimbabwe and the other against England in the semi-final match.

Cardiff: One of the most remarkable victories in the history of cricket was pulled by England when they beat Sri Lanka with an innings and 14 runs at the Cardiff ground yesterday.

The Sri Lankan side crumbled in just 24.4 overs with a total score of 82. Graeme Swann and Chris Tremlett were the heroes for England with the ball as both the bowlers took 4 wickets each.

Play got under way at 3 pm on day 5 of first test match, when England batted briefly, Ian Bell (103 not out) getting his 13th Test ton before they declared on 496 for five – a lead of just 96, which incredibly proved to be enough.

With James Anderson off the field due to the side strain, Tremlett joined Broad in taking the new ball. Broad beat Tharanga Paranavitana once in the opening over but Tremlett went one better in the second, finding the edge with a fuller ball as Strauss pouched the catch at slip. After that no other batsmen stayed at the crease for a much longer time and the Sri Lankan side collapsed on 82 runs.

Last time they were in the Welsh capital in 2009, England saved an Ashes match with a famous last-wicket stand between Monty Panesar and Anderson. Sri Lanka could not call for the same fighting spirit and their final pair stayed together just two balls.

A splendid performance by England to force a victory when everyone was expecting a draw. The team were blamed for bowling poorly in the first innings and look, how they have bounced back!

Tremlett finished with four for 40, Swann taking a superb return of four for 16, while Broad completed the job with two for 21.

Match Summary:

ENG 496/5 (First innings; Alastair Cook 133, Jonathan Trott 203, Ajantha Mendis 1-66) beat SL 400/10 (First innings; Prasanna Jayawardene 112, Tharanga Paranavitana 66, James Anderson 3-66) and 82/10 ( Second innings, Thisara Perera 20, Graeme Swann 4-16) by an inning and 14 runs.

Man of the Match: Jonathan Trott for his splendid double ton.

Sri Lanka will begin their 2011 tour to England with a three-match test series starting May 26, 2011 followed by one-off Twenty20 and 5-match ODI series.

Sri Lanka vs England Test Series Schedule

1st Test Match

Thursday, May 26, 2011 to Monday, May 30, 2011

Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Time: 15:30 (IST) | 11:00 (Local)

2nd Test Match

Friday, June 3, 2011 to Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Lords, London

Time: 15:30 (IST) | 11:00 (Local)

3rd Test Match

Thursday, June 16, 2011 to Monday, June 20, 2011

The Rose Bowl, Southampton

Time: 15:30 (IST) | 11:00 (Local)

Sri Lanka vs England One-off Twenty20 Schedule

Only T20

Saturday, June 25, 2011

County Ground, Bristol

Time: 19:00 (IST) | 14:30 (Local)

Sri Lanka vs England ODI Series Schedule

1st ODI

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Kennington Oval, London

Time : 17:30 (IST) | 13:00 (Local)

2nd ODI

Friday, July 1, 2011

Headingley, Leeds

Time: 15:15 (IST) | 10:45 (Local)

3rd ODI

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Lords, London

Time: 15:15 (IST) | 10:45 (Local)

4th ODI

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Time: 18:30 (IST) | 14:00 (Local)

5th ODI

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Old Trafford, Manchester

Time: 15:15 (IST) | 10:45 (Local)

Sri Lanka was put in to bat by Zimbabwe and it was happy to do so. And what a start it was! The openers destroyed the already questionable bowling attack of the Zimbabweans to tatters. Both the openers, Dilshan and Tharanga, scored massive centuries. Each scored at the rate of a run per ball.

Not until the 45th over did the Zimbabwean bowlers get respite from this onslaught. It was interesting to see that post the first wicket, Sri Lanka faced the problem several teams have already faced in the tournament,

that of losing wickets in quick succession. They went from 282-1 in the 45th over to 306-6 in the 47th over. Though they had gone all guns blazing, the rapid loss of wickets proved that even strong sides can crumble like a pack of cards.

If Zimbabwe had got the first breakthrough earlier, it might have been a different game altogether. All the Zimbabwean bowlers were hammered around the park. Mpofu took 4 wickets but he too went for a lot of runs. At the end of 50 overs, the final score of Sri Lanka was 327, leaving a huge, almost insurmountable, task at the hands of Zimbabweans.

Sri Lanka is known for its pace attack that boasts of players such as Malinga, Kulasekara and Perera. But as they say, one’s records do not matter when one is on the pitch, it’s one’s performance there that makes the difference. A display of that was exactly what was seen. The Zimbabwean openers, Taylor and Chakabva, dismantled the Sri Lankan bowling attack, putting the pressure back on the home team. It took Murlitharan finally to weave his magic to get Chakabva out clean bowled. Chakabva made 35 runs.

Zimbabwe followed the same path Sri Lanka had in its innings. From 119 at the loss of a wicket, it went to 150/4. Any chances of a repeat of an Ireland-England clash diminished with the arrival of Tillakaratne Dilshan. The century scorer had not yet finished his contribution for his team. He scalped 4 wickets, giving away only 4 runs. This crippled the Zimbabwean batting, as they seemed to have forgotten how to play spin bowling.

Sri Lanka certainly did get things right this time, with its win of 139 runs. Zimbabwe continues with what has been a poor World Cup for them. T. Dilshan was awarded Man of the Match for scoring a century and taking 4 wickets.

Match Summary:

Sri Lanka 327 for 6 (Upul Tharanga 133, Tilekaratne Dilshan 144, Ray Price 2-46) beat Zimbabwe 188 for 10 (Brendon Taylor 80, Regis Chakabva 35, Muttiah Muralidaran 3-34) by 139 runs

Man of the Match: Tillakaratne Dilshan

Yuvraj, who has been struggling to cement his place in the Test side, felt scoring a century and a fifty in the two games he played in Sri Lanka should have earned him a place in the two-match series against Australia.

“I played two good innings during the Sri Lanka tour. My fitness is better than before. I am disappointed,” Yuvraj said, reacting for the first time since being dropped for the Australia Test Series.

“I was satisfied with my performance in the last two five-day innings I played. It’s very tough for batsmen to make hundreds in every match,” said the left-hander, who scored 52 and five in his last two test innings. “Of course, it is a disappointment but disappointments have become part of my life. In the last two years, I have had a lot of injuries and struggled. It’s out of my hands,” he added.

Yuvraj missed the second Test due to illness and was left out of the third Test as well, after Suresh Raina scored a century on his debut in the second match. Asked about his fitness, the Punjab left-hander said, “It’s much better now. Sri Lanka tour was hard for me especially due to dengue and the neck injury. In the next few days I will be fitter.”

Yuvraj lends a lot of solidity to the middle-order in the Indian ODI team but has never been a regular in the Test side.

Asked why he was struggling in the longer format of the game, Yuvraj said he himself could not identify the shortcomings. “Not a great feeling. For the last seven years I have been trying to cement my place in the Test team but have not been able to do that. And that is a big disappointment. The reasons may be many. The first reason even I don’t know. Then I was injured and got ill,” he said. “The last two games, I was satisfied and then Raina scored a hundred and he got the chance to play the next match. These things are not under my control.”

“If I continue to be dropped like this, definitely I will have to look for something else,” he said jokingly.

Karthik may have been at the rough end of the stick of an umpiring decision in the final but his performance throughout the competition has been anything but flattering. In five matches, Karthik scored 33 runs at an average of 6.60, with a highest score of 14.

Jadeja did not have much to celebrate about either. He ended up with 37 runs in three innings and his bowling was also not spectacular in the tournament. He just had three wickets to his name at an average of 39.33 and an economy rate of over five runs per over.

One also wonders whether batsman Saurabh Tiwary and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin were taken to Sri Lanka as just tourists. Both are promising youngsters in their own right and certainly deserved at least one outing in the centre.

It was all about the Virender Sehwag show as far as India were concerned and it’s scary to consider what might have happened had Sehwag not fired. He was by far India’s top performer among batsmen with 268 runs at an impressive average of 67. Skipper Dhoni was a distant second with 140 runs at an average of 35.

Another bitter pill to swallow for the Indians is the fact their top order has been totally and completely exposed by the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir. Those two not being there in the line up proved to be too much for Team India to deal with.

What about the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) that was rejected by India before the start of the Test series against Sri Lanka? The Indians were at the receiving end of some horrendous umpiring decisions in the tri-series competition. Not opting for the system might come back to haunt India since there is a possibility of it being used in the 2011 World Cup.

New Zealand and Sri Lanka’s game was abandoned for the second day running as the rains refused to let up, but not before more drama involving the beleaguered Kumar Sangakkara and cricket’s notoriously convoluted laws!

The incident happened in the 26.5th over, when after flicking a ball to fine-leg region, Sangakkara bumped into McCullum while trying to ground his bat to take his run. The bowler didn’t like it and complained to the umpires, who reported it to the Match Referee Alan Hurst who in turn charged the Lankan skipper with a Level 2 offence for deliberate physical contact with an opposition player.

Talking about the incident, former skipper and Sangakkara’s deputy Mahela Jayawardene said it was not done intentionally as he was “blinded” when he took the run. “It was not intentional. Sangakkara collided with a bowlers and the bowler complained to the umpire. But Sangakkara didn’t do it intentionally. He was blinded when he took the run. I saw the replays. These things happen,” Jayawardene said.

This incident comes just days after Sri Lanka were embroiled in a demoralising no-ball controversy in their second game against India on Monday. Off-spinner Suraj Randiv was banned for one game by Sri Lanka Cricket for bowling a no-ball to Virender Sehwag at the fag end of the match to deprive the Indian opener his ton.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, senior batsman, forfeited his entire match fee after local media reported that he talked Randiv into bowling the no-ball. The SLC also reprimanded Sangakkara that no such incident should happen in future.