England to play three Test matches here

CRICKET: The England cricket team will play five one day internationals and three test matches during their tour of Sri Lanka which is scheduled to take place in two stages later this year.

The first stage will include the one day international series in October and the three test matches will be played in November/December. The England team will arrive on September 25 and will play a warm up match on September 28 before the first one day international on October 1 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.

The second and the third one day internationals too will be played in Dambulla on October 4 and 7 respectively. The team will then return back to Colombo for the last two one day internationals on October 10 and 13 respectively.

After leaving the island England will arrive for the second stage of the tour exactly one month later on November 15. They will play a warm up match from November 20 to 22 at Moratuwa and another first class game from November 25 to 27 at the Colts CC grounds in Havelock Park. The first test will be played from December 1 to 5 at the Galle International Stadium and the second test from December 9 to 13 in Colombo. The third and final test match will be played from December 18 to 22 in Kandy. (C.D.)