Apollo Hospital, Colombo is making arrangements to get some procedural matters cleared to do the first heart transplant in Sri Lanka on a seriously affected heart patient.



The operation will be carried out by Consultant Cardiothorasic surgeon Dr. Sujeeth H. Savarna FRCS.



Dr. Savarna who returned from UK recently and took over the Apollo’s heart surgery programme told the Daily News that he had participated in over 200 heart transplants in the UK and was looking forward to… Continue

The Sri Lankan Army chief has said that the Congress-led Indian government would not listen to "the political jokers" in Tamil Nadu and insist that Colombo go for a ceasefire with the Tamil Tiger rebels.



Army Chief Lt.Gen. Sarath Fonseka, in an interview with the state-run Sunday Observer, expressed confidence that the Indian government "is not interested in a ceasefire in Sri Lanka" as it has listed the LTTE as a terrorist organization and handed the rebel chief a death sentence for… Continue

An Indian and a Sri Lankan exchanging boarding passes before boarding a SriLankan Airlines flight bound for London via Colombo were nabbed by Immigration officials, at the Chennai Airport on Friday.



The vigilance teams of the airport immigration wing noticed them on the closed circuit television and immediately intercepted them. The sleuths found both were carrying Indian passports with the same name ’Sampath Kumar’.



On further verification, police recovered another Sri… Continue

The SAARC Charter Day commemorating will be observed today (Dec 8).



President Mahinda Rajapaksa said today that SAARC countries should work in unison, safeguard its rich heritage and also rise to face the challenges that test the nations.



Issuing a statement President said that the SAARC region is home to one-fifth of the world’s population, making SAARC the largest regional entity in the world.



The following is the full text of his massage.



"Today,… Continue

Maskeliya: Revellers during the Sripada season which begins on December 12 will be severely dealth with, Police said.



Three-wheeler and private vehicle drivers who fail to follow rules and regulations from Hatton to Nallathanniya via Maskeliya and Nortonbridge will be severely punished, Senior Superintendent of Hatton Region S. Swarnasinghe told a meeting at the Hatton-Dickoya Urban Council Auditorium.



SSP Swarnasinghe said three-wheeler drivers who flout the law will be… Continue

The Indian cricket board has decided to put on hold all forthcoming tours involving Sri Lanka after Sri Lanka Cricket officials made “hostile” statements against the Indian Premier League and the national cricket board, a news report said Sunday.



The board has also decided to withdraw a $40 million (euro31.76 million) aid package to the neighboring cricket board, the Press Trust of India reported.



The controversy comes as… Continue

Sri Lanka team will be without the senior players Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, T.M. Dilshan and Chamara Silva as they leave for a tour of Zimbabwe to play five One Day Internationals next month.



Jayasuriya and Vaas who had opted out of the tour citing personal reasons were not available for selection while all rounder Dilshan has been dropped from the side but remains as a stand-by along with left arm paceman Chanaka… Continue

BY ANIL JOHN

AJANTHA Mendis is a ‘freaky phenomenon’ who could surpass spin greats Shane Warne and Muthiah Muralitharan if he stays injury-free for at least 10 years, Sri Lanka’s first Test captain has said.



Bandula Warnapura, who led Sri Lankan greats such as Roy Dias, Duleep Mendis and Arjuna Ranatunga against England when the island nation got Test status in 1982, even compared Mendis to Don Bradman, calling them… Continue

The Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge yesterday handed over the green light to the cricketers to participate in the high profile Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament second session which is scheduled for April next year.



This means that Sri Lanka’s proposed tour to England is in the balance as it clashes with the Indian Premier League where skipper Mahela Jayawardena, vice captain Kumar Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaas, Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan… Continue

by S.T. Arasu



I will be failing in my duty if I do not pen a few words of welcoming appreciation to our talented lad mystery, off spinner (and super star) Ajantha Mendis, who was unanimously selected, by the ICC (International Cricket Council), as the "Emerging player of the Year", for his tremendous efforts and fantastic record-breaking feats, in the recent encounters, against West Indies and India, and also, for his debut Test series, with a terrific haul of 26 wickets… Continue

Dashing opener Upul Tharanga hammered an unbeaten 173 to help the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team beat the South Africa ‘A’ team by 26 runs in their third one day match played under lights at Buffalo Park, East London on Wednesday.



Tharanga hoisted four sixes and struck 20 boundaries during his magnificent innings which earned him the man of the match award. Sri Lanka ‘A’ piled up a massive 335 for 3 after electing to bat first and then restricted… Continue

IMAGE: ASSOCIATED PRESS



DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and South Africa paceman Dale Steyn received the top honours at the International Cricket Council awards on Wednesday.



Chanderpaul received the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year, and Steyn became the first bowler to win the Test player of the year award.



The 34-year-old Chanderpaul, the top-ranked… Continue

by Michael Roberts - Continued from yesterday



PART II



Batsmen



The batsmen selected for the Saf tour to back up Kandambi and the two allrounders are: Upul Tharanga, T. Paranavitana, Kanchana Gunawardena, Angelo Mathews, Kaushal Silva and Gihan Rupasinghe.



Kaushal Silva moved ahead of Gihan de Silva and Charith Sylvester in the wicket-keeper batsman stakes a couple of years back and his batting figures on previous A Team tours… Continue

by Michael Roberts



PART ONE



At any one moment and in the immediate future a country’s cricketing capacities depend in part on its bench strength, the reserves in the wings so to speak and thus on it’s B Team, or rather, the A Squad as it is called. Injuries occur among the top fifteen players. Pacemen are especially liable to breakdown. Indeed, during the past year Maharoof, Malinga, Welagedera, Dilhara Fernando and, now, Dhammika Prasad have been sidelined at some… Continue

CR and FC and Sri Lanka number eight Dushanth Lewke has been picked to lead Sri Lanka at the Asian First Division Rugby Tournament which will be worked off in Chinese Taipei in November this year.



The Sri Lankan ruggerites will compete with China, Singapore and host nation Chinese Taipei in this four nation tournament.



Lewke turned out for Royal College, Colombo from 2000 to 2002 and was the vice captain of the invincible Royal… Continue

[Photo: AFP]



Sri Lanka’s discovery of the decade Ajantha Mendis has been nominated as the Emerging Player of the Year for the International Cricket Council’s annual awards for the year 2008.



Mendis has been nominated alongside India’s paceman Ishant Sharma, England’s fast bowler Steuart Broad and South African allrounder Albie Morkel for the September 10th awards presentation in Dubai.



Mendis created a sensation in… Continue

The batting display of the Test and ODI teams recently has been disappointing, some would say disgraceful. In almost every match in the past year the top order has failed either to bad stroke execution, wrong shot selection or lack of mental discipline. Most worrying is the openers not setting a foundation for a good score. Batsmen are trying to belt the cover off the ball from the start. Middle order batsmen don’t seem to know the difference between Test and T20 (Instant Noodles) Cricket.… Continue

[Photo: AFP]



Sri Lanka’s 30-year-old vice captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara will undergo surgery to an injured finger. This was revealed by Dr. David Young, the renowned orthopaedic surgeon in Australia.



Sangakkara was nursing the right index finger injury before the concluded home series against India.



Sangakkara was the biggest disappointed in the one-day series which India won 3-2 with a poor… Continue

Image: CricInfo

Thilan Thushara Mirando emerged as a genuine all rounder but his heroics with bat and ball could not prevent India from pulling off a 46 run victory in the fourth one day international worked off under lights at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.



With this success India took an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five match series and Friday’s fifth and final match at the same venue under lights will be of academic… Continue

Sri Lanka’s premier fast bowler Chaminda Vaas completed another milestone in his illustrious career when he became the fourth bowler to claim four hundred wickets in one day internationals.



The 34 year old left arm seamer performed this feat by dismissing Yuvraj Singh in the fourth one day international against the touring Indian team at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.



Vaas playing in his 322nd match finished with figures of… Continue