Sri Lanka's county stars available for Bangladesh Tests

Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, and Kumar Sangakkara, currently playing county cricket in England, will be available for selection for the home Test series against Bangladesh.

Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka Cricket's chairman of selectors, said the selectors wanted to look at every angle before they decided on the squad. The availability of the three senior players, de Mel said, meant that Sri Lanka would have a well-balanced squad for the series. Murali, playing for Lancashire, Vaas for Middlesex, and Sangakkara for Warwickshire, will miss the Afro-Asia Cup, hosted by India in early June, due to their county commitments.

Meanwhile,the venue for the first Test in Colombo, starting June 25, has been moved from R Premadasa Stadium to the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground. The second Test will be played at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo from July 3 to 7 and the third at Kandy's Asgiriya Stadium from July 11 to 15.