Sri Lanka also plans to host its Independence Cup tournament in September next year and three other teams will be invited for the event. South Africa will take on Sri Lanka in the opening match of the Triangular one day international series in Trent Bridge on August 14, next year. England, South Africa and Sri Lanka will play each other once on a league basis and the top two teams will advance to the final to be played at Lord's on September 20.
* The Minister of Samurdhi, Youth Affairs and Sports S.B.Dissanayake has sent a congratulatory message to the manager of the Sri Lankan cricket team, Duleep Mendis for emerging as runners up in the Pakistan Independence cricket tournament concluded in Lahore.
The Minister in his message has stated that despite losing to South Africa in the final encounter Sri Lanka had the credit of defeating two top teams the West Indies and Pakistan in the League tournament. He further said that the team should be able to take up victory and defeat equally and hoped that this defeat would give them courage and determination to perform well as World champions in the matches to follow. The Minister hoped the team would perform well in the Test series against India.
* CIC defeated ABN Amro Bank and Ceylon Business Appliances (CBA) in two Mercantile 'H' Division cricket tournament matches played at the MCA grounds.
In their first game they beat ABN Amro Bank by four wickets and followed up with an eight wicket win over Ceylon Business Appliances. ABN Amro Bank were dismissed for 114 runs with Sapumal Herathge claiming 5 for 10. In reply CIC scored 120 for 6 with skipper Vajira Sugathapala stroking an unbeaten half century which included two sixes and four boundaries. In their second outing CIC defeated Ceylon Business Appliances (CBA) by eight wickets. (Abroad):
* The West Indies who opened their tour of Pakistan on an unimpressive note, losing all three preliminary round matches of the Jinnah Cup tournament, are determined to fight back in the three-Test series which starts later this month.
The West Indies are due to play Pakistan Board President's X1 in a four-day warm-up match which starts in Rawalpindi tomorrow before moving on to the first Test against Pakistan to be played from November 17-21 in Peshawar. The second Test between the two teams will be played from November 29 to December 3 in Rawalpindi and the third and final Test from December 6-10 in Karachi.
On conclusion of the Test series, the West Indies and Pakistan, along with England and India, will play in a quadrangular one day international tournament to be played in Sharjah in mid December.
* Sri Lanka's one-day marvel Sanath Jayasuriya continued to head the latest CEAT International Cricketer of the year rankings issued in Mumbai after the Independence quadrangular tournament in Pakistan. Jayasuriya is in the select band of six cricketers who had performed the all-rounders double of 3,000 runs and 100 wickets in the abbreviated game.
Since one-day cricket came to the fore in 1971, only cricketers from five countries have performed this feat - two each from West Indies and India, and one each from Pakistan, Australia and Sri Lanka. Aravinda de Silva, the first and the only Sri Lankan cricketer to score 7,000 runs in one day internationals is in the second place of the CEAT World rankings.