Muralitharan in the nets

Sri Lanka will not risk Muttiah Muralitharan in the fourth one-day international against England in Colombo.

The spinner is still recovering from the bicep injury that forced him to miss the recent ICC World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa.

Although he is back bowling in the nets Sri Lanka do not want to take any chances with a Test series against Australia on the horizon.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene does not expect Muralthiran to be in action in the day-nighter on Wednesday and is not sure he will play any part in the series.

Right decision

“Murali bowled quite a bit today and he looks very fit, but I don’t think we’re going to try and push him,” he told Sky Sports News.

“He wants to play but we have to make the right decision and he’s still not 100 per cent.

“I think the guys we have in the squad are quite capable of performing, so I don’t see Murali playing.

“It’s not the end of the world and we have a lot of cricket ahead. For us it is all about developing another team for the next World Cup.”

Injury scare

England leads the five-match series 2-1 after their nail-biting win in Dambulla on Sunday.

The tourists did have a slight scare over captain Paul Collingwood, who injured his right shoulder in the first match attempting to take a return catch.

Although he did play in the next two games, bowling 15 overs and leading his team to back-to-back victories, he had a precautionary scan on Monday in Colombo.

However, the Durham all-rounder played a full part in practice on Tuesday and should be fit to lead England as they bid for a first major one-day series win on the sub-continent for 20 years.

“There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to make tomorrow,” Collingwood told Sky Sports News.

“The scan was just a precautionary measure really it’s just a niggle.”

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Tags: Murali, ready, return

Posted on September 22nd, 2006 by Klaus Roe
Filed under: News, Cricket, Fun and Games