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Batting allrounder Milinda Siriwardana and 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Mendis have been named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the two-Test series against West Indies.Siriwardana had been expected to make an appearance in the squad, having made an encouraging start to his international career in the limited-overs formats, in addition to top-scoring in the most recent first-class season. Mendis’ selection is something of a surprise, however. He had led Sri Lanka’s Under-19 team in last year’s Youth World Cup, but has only hit one hundred and one fifty in 16 first-class innings so far. Both Mendis and Siriwardana are playing in the ongoing three-day practice match against the West Indians.Mendis’ recent performances in the Moin-ud-Dowlah tournament in India, where he captained the Sri Lanka Development XI, had helped push him into Test contention, chief selector Kapila Wijegunawardana said. Mendis hit 156, 52 and 47 in his three innings in the tournament.”Kusal Mendis has been on our radar for a while,” Wijegunawardana said. “We felt that he earned a spot in the Test squad with the way he has been batting, and the way he batted on the recent tour to India. All the selectors have assessed his skill levels to be quite good and are backing him.”Mendis and Siriwardana displace two more experienced batsmen from the squad. Upul Tharanga has been dropped despite a decent home record in the past two years. Jehan Mubarak has also been replaced, after making the squad for the two recent series against Pakistan and India.The remainder of the squad holds few surprises. Tharindu Kaushal retains his position after having had his doosra banned recently – but he was always expected to remain in the side on the strength of this offbreaks. Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera are the other frontline spin options.Sri Lanka’s top order looks unlikely to undergo drastic change, though each of the top six is likely to be under 30 years of age. Lahiru Thirimanne retains his position in the squad and remains vice-captain although he has only averaged 21.09 in the home Test season. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva look set to rejoin each other at the top of the order after a brief break from opening together in the last Test against India. Kusal Perera’s impressive Test debut, in which he hit two valuable fifties, will likely see him claim a place in the XI as well.Seamer Suranga Lakmal has regained fitness after missing the series against India due to a side strain, and joins Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep and Dushmantha Chameera in the squad. Shaminda Eranga remains unavailable after picking up his third major injury this year, in his groin. There is no place for left-armer Vishwa Fernando, who was in the squad for the India series.Sri Lanka will have to decide whether Kusal takes the gloves or whether Dinesh Chandimal keeps. In the most recent Test, Chandimal had been sent up the order and relieved of the gloves, while Kusal put in an underwhelming performance behind the stumps.The first Test begins in Galle on October 14, before the teams move to the P Sara Oval for the second encounter.Sri Lanka Test squad Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-capt), Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Tharindu Kaushal, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera

The Goa middle order put up a brave fight but there was preciouslittle substance in the rest of the batting and Andhra took firstinnings points as their rain affected three day KSCA Coca Cola Trophymatch ended in a draw in Bangalore on Tuesday.Andhra declared at the overnight total of 285 for five. Goa’s toporder made a mess of things and at 65 for four, they were down in thedumps. However Amit Jadav and Gaurish Phadte initiated the recoveryprocess by adding 77 runs off 34.1 overs. Phadte’s 42 was scored off116 balls and was inclusive of six boundary hits. Jadav and S Misquinthen kept the momentum going with a sixth wicket partnership of 36runs off 12 overs before Jadhav was out for a gallant 50. He faced 160balls and hit three fours and two sixes. Once Jadhav was sixth out at178, the tail offered little resistance. Misquin made a valuable 34off 60 balls with four fours and two sixes but Goa were all out for204 off 86.4 overs. Balaji Krishna Singh was the most successfulbowler with four for 51. Due to dampness of the pitch, play started 50minutes late. Andhra got five points and Goa three.

Manchester City are now the ‘favourite’ to sign Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland, after news emerged claiming that Pep Guardiola’s side sit in ‘pole position’ for the striker.

The Lowdown: Interest in Haaland

City’s interest in the 21-year-old has been widely reported for the past few months after the club failed to secure the signing of Tottenham star Harry Kane. The Sky Blues have reportedly joined Real Madrid as the frontrunners in the race for the youngster’s signature.

Last month, Dortmund advisor Matthias Sammer admitted that he is aware that the Citizens are closely monitoring the Norwegian. He even revealed that he ‘fainted’ after hearing about the proposal that the Premier League champions are plotting.

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The Latest: City’s huge boost

According to a report from Sky Sports Deutschland (via Sport Witness), Guardiola’s side have emerged as the ‘favourite’ in ‘recent weeks’ to sign the Norway international, and they are currently in ‘pole position’ to complete the transfer in the summer.

Sebastian Kehl, who is set to become Dortmund’s new sporting director, has ruled out renewal talks with the striker, although Sky have claimed that Real Madrid are still in the picture for a move for Haaland.

The Verdict: Exceptional signing

Since bursting onto the scene as a teenager after joining from Red Bull Salzburg, Haaland has gone on to attract international attention due to his emphatic goalscoring record. In just 83 matches for Dortmund, the 21-year-old has netted a sensational 80 goals.

As a result, he ranks in the 99th percentile for non-penalty goals, non-penalty expected goals and non-penalty expected goals plus expected assists among positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues (via FBRef), so it is easy to see why the likes of Arsene Wenger have labelled him a “super talent”.

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Therefore, if City can get this deal over the line, it will be an exceptional signing for Guardiola’s side.

In other news: £36m-rated star who Zabaleta absolutely loves could now join Man City

Less than a month after Worcestershire announced a £50,000 deal with Kidderminster CC to stage county matches at their ground in the event of New Road flooding again, the old pavilion at Chester Road has been destroyed by fire.Fireman were called to tackle a blaze in the early hours of Sunday morning but were unable to save the wooden building which had to be demolished as it was unsafe. Police believe the fire was started deliberately.The structure was built around 1870 at the old Lorne Street ground and subsequently moved with the club to the current venue. It was replaced by a newer building in 1927 and has more recently been used for storing equipment.A spokesman for the club said that the worst hit would be the 150 youngsters whose kit was all lost in the fire. “We’ve accumulated a lot over the last few years but it has all gone up in smoke … the boys need bats, helmets, boxes and pads and the price of those all adds up.”

Kyle McCallan: “They are saying we have qualified on the basis of one performance. Hasn’t everyone?” © Getty Images

Kyle McCallan, the Ireland spinner, is fed up of hearing critics say they have no right to be in the Super Eights. After being the surprise of the group phase with a win over Pakistan and a tie with Zimbabwe, Ireland are now under increasing scrutiny to prove they should be in the second stage.”I am reading so many comments at the moment, saying Ireland shouldn’t be in the Super Eights,” McCallan said. “No matter what you do, people are trying to knock you down. They are saying we have qualified on the basis of one performance.”Hasn’t everyone? England lost to New Zealand. They are only in the Super Eights because they beat Kenya. They’re all motivating factors for us to go out and perform another upset.”Ireland get their chance to prove they belong in the second round when they face England in Guyana on Friday. It will be the second match between the teams in nine months after England won by 38 runs last June.”We were disappointed at how we bowled against England in Belfast,” McCallan said. “They haven’t got Marcus Trescothick, who got a big hundred against us, albeit they now have Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, but we didn’t disgrace ourselves in that match and we’ll take that experience into Friday’s game.”They’ve lost Harmison from that attack and while we cannot be overly-confident going into the game, we can realistically compete with them. Having heard what we’ve heard about the pitch here, apparently it suits the slower bowlers so I hope that they will play the pace bowlers. It will come on to the bat and make for faster scoring.”The guys have coped with the quicker bowling rather well and if we can hit the ball down the ground in the middle overs, we should get more runs. The batters know what they have to do.”

Chris Dehring: ‘Full steam ahead’ © Cricinfo

Suggestions that some of the grounds scheduled to host matches during next year’s World Cup will not be ready on time have been dismissed by Chris Dehring, the tournament’s managing director and chief executive officer.Concerns have grown after contractors at Sabina Park admitted that there were serious delays in the ground’s rebuild, but Dehring said that it was “full steam ahead”, adding that a contingency plan had been submitted to the ICC in case there were any last-minute problems.”Everyone is moving forward as planned,” he told reporters in Grenada. “Of course we have a back-up plan in place and it is currently being reviewed by the ICC. That plan will only be implemented if absolutely necessary. At present, there is no one country that is being earmarked to ‘take’ matches currently assigned to another host venue.”If a decision were to be taken to relocate matches from one host venue to another, it could only be taken by the organisers. This is not a decision that can be made by anyone outside.”Dehring explained that it was “critical to the overall success of the tournament, at this time every country is expected to meet its obligation to host matches. Each host venue is working not only on the completion of their stadia but on all the other infrastructural elements required to support the hosting of the tournament.”We have just over 300 days to go, including weekends and public holidays, and everyone concerned is working assiduously to ensure that no time is lost.Dehring also said that a revised plan had now been submitted for Sabina Park which would ensure it was ready on time. Warner Park in St Kitts is almost finished, and work on the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua is ahead of schedule. Guyana’s Providence Stadium is also set to be ready ahead of the organisers’ deadline.

Kevin Pietersen: ‘I’m nowhere near Tests yet’© Getty Images

England batting sensation Kevin Pietersen has admitted that he is not ready for Test match cricket.Despite a record-breaking start to his ODI career and praise from Michael Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher, Pietersen says he’s “nowhere near Tests yet”, in an interview in the April issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine.While playing down his readiness for an Ashes match-up with world champions Australia, Pietersen does admit that time spent playing with Shane Warne at Hampshire could prove to be a useful learning curve. Speaking of Warne, he says: “He’s a genius, and to have a bloke like that wanting me in his cupboard to play alongside him was most definitely flattering. I’m nowhere near Tests yet, I’ve only played a few ODIs, but playing with Warney will definitely smooth out a possible confrontation if I do happen to come up against him in the summer.”Pietersen’s reluctance to put himself in the Test frame is not shared by the nation’s cricket-lovers. 83% of 1,000 respondents to a Wisden Cricketer poll on Cricinfo.com said he should definitely be in the Test side. And four out of ten said they would prefer to watch him bat rather than Andrew Flintoff, a staggering result for the novice compared to the country’s established destroyer of bowling attacks.Reflecting on his baptism of fire against South Africa in Johannesburg, where he shepherded England to victory, Pietersen says: “I think that innings was one of the biggest I’ll probably play in international cricket, that 22 not out. It just helped me settle down, helped me enjoy international cricket. And after that I realised that it will never be as bad as that – 35,000 people are booing you, every single person wants you out, every single person hates you.”He also has an answer for the doubters who have suggested that his leg-side bias could yet be exposed. “In one-day cricket you have to be able to hit a ball into three different areas at once. You’ve got to know that if the ball’s there, you’ve got three different areas where you could score. That’s how I go about it. I open up the off-side, I go down the ground, I open up the leg-side and I try to make sure I get a run a ball.

Pietersen celebrates his maiden one-day hundred at Bloemfontein© Getty Images

“I play differently in first-class cricket in England. My style doesn’t change, I’m a positive player who likes to hit boundaries and score quickly, but in first-class cricket your technique changes, you can become a lot more patient. So in Test match or first-class cricket I won’t have to hit the ball through the leg-side all the time. There’ll be more scoring options all over.”His admiration for one-day team-mate and mentor Darren Gough is unstinting: “I respect every single thing he says and I love his approach to a game. It helped me a lot to have a senior bloke like that right by my side all the time. In terms of lifestyle, in terms of cricket, everything. He was instrumental in getting me to relax.”And his passion for living in England is equally enthusiastic: “I love the country, I love the people, I love all the players, I love the management,” he says.Tony Greig, the former England captain who was also born and learnt his cricket in South Africa, offers Pietersen some worldly advice: “The only advice I’d give him is that the one thing you can’t change is you’re South African. The fact that you’re lucky enough to be eligible to play for England is like a business decision.”People who have played for England have always been born all over the place. I guess the only issue now is the timing. The England team is just getting good and people probably want the team to be Anglo-Saxon to its boots,” says Greig, interviewed in the same issue of the magazine.The April issue of The Wisden Cricketer, the world’s largest-selling cricket magazine, is on sale from Friday 18 March priced at £3.40 for 100 pages of news, features, interviews, match reports and competitions.

Steve Tikolo, Kenya’s captain, has appealed to sponsors and the ICC to help develop cricket in his country. After Kenya’s loss to the Windward Islands in the Carib Beer series this weekend, Tikolo lamented the fact that it is extremely difficult for the game to grow.At present, all that exists is a one-day tournament which started in 1987, but lacks any sponsorship “We do not have a first-class season and all we play is one-day cricket,” Tikolo said. “This is no preparation for the longer version of the game.”Tikolo did reveal that the Kenyan authorities are considering the introduction of a three-day tournament in the next few months, but he said that is likely to be an uphill struggle without sponsorship. “Cricket is just catching on as a popular sport in Kenya and has to rival football and athletics,” he said, “so to attract sponsors is not going to be easy.”Kenya surprisingly made the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup, but Tikolo insisted that achievement has done nothing in terms of support and sponsorship. “The ICC have more or less turned their backs on us since our showing in the tournament, and save for a limited-overs tournament in Sharjah, we have not had any serious cricket.”Tikolo’s comments come in the wake of Andy Moles, the coach, who insisted the ICC should grant Kenya Test status.

A stand of 46 for the last wicket between Bilal Shafayat and Nick Thornicroft edged England Under-19s to a thrilling one-wicket win over the ECB Academy at Adelaide.Shafayat made 31 and Thornicroft nine to pluck the Under-19s from the threshold of oblivion. They eventually reached their target of 240 with just four balls to spare. They also ensured that an innings of 73 made earlier by Samit Patel did not go to waste.Earlier, Notts wicket-keeper Chris Read hit an excellent 95 off 123 balls, while Durham’s Gordon Muchall chimed in with 46.The Under-19 team included Andy Flintoff and Ashley Giles, who were continuing their warm-ups for the World Cup. Neither man shone, with Giles returning one for 35 from 10 overs and making a duck, while Flintoff bowled just three overs and made 14.

Sri Lanka’s selectors recalled all-rounder Chandika Hathurusinghe andincluded three more players to their squad of 22 to face India and NewZealand in a one-day triangular cricket series from mid-July and Indiain a three-Test series in August.Left-handed batsman Avishka Gunawardena and fast bowlers RuchiraPerera and Dinusha Fernando were the other three named in the listthat has now swollen to 26 players. They are undergoing training undercoach Dav Whatmore in Colombo.Hathurusinghe’s inclusion is seen more as an attempt to bolster themiddle-order, which already includes Hashan Tillekeratne and Aravindade Silva, than for his gentle medium pace.The 32-year-old Hathurusinghe has played 26 Tests in his internationalcareer that began in 1993 and has been in and out of the nationalsquad, and earns his fourth recall after a successful domestictournament.