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Ben Stokes: England all-rounder to come out of ODI retirement for Cricket World Cup

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Ben Stokes’ return to the England one-day side for the defence of the World Cup will be confirmed on Wednesday.

Stokes, 32, will come out of retirement to be named in a 15-man squad for a four-match series against New Zealand in September.
Stokes was man of the match in the final when England won the World Cup for the first time in 2019.
The all-rounder retired from one-day internationals last summer, saying that playing three formats was unsustainable.
He continued to lead the England Test team and play in T20 internationals, starring in the final as England lifted the World Cup in the shortest format in Australia in November.
When asked in July if he would play in the 50-over World Cup, Stokes reiterated he was retired.
But in an interview with the Daily Mail, England white-ball coach Matthew Mott said captain Jos Buttler would approach Stokes over reversing that decision. A number of newspaper reports on Monday said Stokes was considering the request.
A quirk of the schedule means England have no Tests until they tour India for five matches between January and March next year.
Stokes had planned to use the gap to address a long-standing left-knee problem, which has severely limited his ability to bowl.
Therefore, his role at the World Cup could largely be as a specialist batter.
England will name their squad for the New Zealand ODIs, played between 8-15 September, at 10:00 BST on Wednesday. They will also name a strong 15-man party for four T20s against the Black Caps, beginning on 30 August.
Following the New Zealand series, England will play three ODIs against Ireland at the end of September. A separate squad for this will be named at a later date.
Because of that series’ close proximity to the beginning of the World Cup on 5 October, most of the first-choice players will be rested.
England begins their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in a repeat of the 2019 final.
Mott also said England might be willing to take a risk on the fitness of pace bowler Jofra Archer, who has been plagued by injuries since bowling the super over in the thrilling finale four years ago.
England’s World Cup squad will have a familiar feel, probably including nine of the squad that was successful on home soil in 2019.

බෙන් ස්ටෝක්ස්: එංගලන්ත තුන් ඉරියව් ක්‍රීඩකයා ක්‍රිකට් ලෝක කුසලානය සඳහා යළිත් එක්දින ක්‍රිකට් පිටියට

ලෝක කුසලානය සඳහා බෙන් ස්ටෝක්ස් එංගලන්ත එක්දින කණ්ඩායමට නැවත පැමිණීම බදාදා ස්ථිර වනු ඇත.

32 හැවිරිදි ස්ටෝක්ස් විශ්‍රාම ගැනීමෙන් පසු සැප්තැම්බර් මාසයේදී නවසීලන්තයට එරෙහිව පැවැත්වෙන තරග හතරකින් යුත් තරගාවලිය සඳහා 15 දෙනෙකුගෙන් යුත් සංචිතයකට නම් කරනු ඇත.
2019 වසරේ පළමු වරට එංගලන්තය ලෝක කුසලානය දිනූ විට අවසන් මහා තරගයේ වීරයා වූයේ ස්ටෝක්ස් ය.
තුන් ඉරියව් ක්‍රීඩකයා පසුගිය ගිම්හානයේදී එක්දින ජාත්‍යන්තර තරඟවලින් විශ්‍රාම ගියේ ආකෘති තුනක් ක්‍රීඩා කිරීම තිරසාර නොවන බව පවසමිනි.
ඔහු නොවැම්බරයේ ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ පැවති විස්සයි විස්ස ආකෘතියෙන් එංගලන්තය ලෝක කුසලානය ඔසවද්දී අවසන් මහා තරගයට ක්‍රීඩා කල අතර ඔහු එංගලන්ත ටෙස්ට් කණ්ඩායමට නායකත්වය දෙමින් T20 ජාත්‍යන්තර තරගවලට ක්‍රීඩා කළේය.
ඔහු ඕවර 50 ලෝක කුසලානයට ක්‍රීඩා කරන්නේ දැයි ජූලි මාසයේදී ඇසූ විට, ස්ටෝක්ස් නැවත වරක් කියා සිටියේ තමා විශ්‍රාම ගත් බවයි.
නමුත් ඩේලි මේල් සමඟ සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමින් එංගලන්ත පුහුණුකරු මැතිව් මොට් පැවසුවේ නායක ජොස් බට්ලර් එම තීරණය වෙනස් කිරීම සඳහා ස්ටෝක්ස් වෙත පැමිණෙනු ඇති බවයි. සඳුදා පුවත්පත් වාර්තා ගණනාවක් පැවසුවේ ස්ටෝක්ස් ඉල්ලීම සලකා බලන බවයි.
ඔහුගේ පන්දු යැවීමේ හැකියාව දැඩි ලෙස සීමා කර ඇති දිගුකාලීන වම් දණහිසේ ගැටලුවක් නිසාවෙන් ලෝක කුසලානයේ ඔහුගේ භූමිකාව බොහෝ දුරට විශේෂඥ පිතිකරුවෙකු ලෙස විය හැකිය.

Football

Stafford vs. Colombo International: The Second Edition of the Big Match Kicks Off!

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Football fever returns as Stafford International School and Colombo International School gear up for the second edition of their highly anticipated Big Match! This year, the rivalry intensifies with four matches across different age and gender categories:

U15 Girls
U15 Boys
U20 Girls
U20 Boys

🏆 Stafford International’s Rising Stars:

  • U15 Girls: Defending TISSL U14 and Colombo SLSFA District champions, featuring standout players like Keshalee Ranatunga and Sonja Ratanayake (just 10 years old!).
  • U15 Boys: All-Island U14 runners-up out of 462 schools, led by goalkeeper Yash Amarasekara, who was named Best U14 GK in Sri Lanka.
  • U20 Girls & Boys: Both teams finished as TISSL runners-up, boasting stars like Raya Rikaz, Yumna Safraz, Adnaan Ameen, and Nidurshan Mohan.

🏆 Colombo International’s Key Players:

  • U15 Girls: TISSL U16 runners-up, featuring top defender Khadeeja Niyas and striker Ozra.
  • U20 Girls: TISSL U20 runners-up, with Fioni Dedhia named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
  • U20 Boys: Defending Big Match champions, looking to retain their title behind stars like Krishwen and Habib.

👀 Who will come out on top this time? Watch the action LIVE at the link below! 🎥👇

#BigMatch2025 #SchoolFootball #SriLankaFootball #StaffordVsCIS #RivalryRenewed

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Cricket

Shammi Silva Re-Elected as Sri Lanka Cricket President for Fourth Consecutive Term

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Shammi Silva has been re-elected as the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president for the 2025-27 term, marking his fourth consecutive tenure at the helm of the nation’s cricket governing body. Silva secured the position uncontested at the 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Colombo on Monday.

A Controversial Yet Dominant Tenure

Silva’s leadership has not been without controversy. His previous term saw a high-profile clash with former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe in 2023, which led to an interim committee being appointed after Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the ICC ODI World Cup. This move resulted in ICC suspending SLC, which led to Sri Lanka losing the hosting rights for the U19 Men’s World Cup, which was later held in South Africa.

Despite these setbacks, Silva regained control after a court ruling reinstated his administration, and he was later appointed as the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in December 2023, replacing Jay Shah.

Challenges & Future Outlook

Sri Lanka Cricket has long been seen as a powerful and influential body, with internal politics often shaping its leadership. With financial mismanagement concerns highlighted in the Auditor General’s report, Silva’s administration faces the challenge of restoring credibility and ensuring better governance.

With the ICC ban lifted, Sri Lanka looks to rebuild its cricketing structure and improve performance on the international stage. The focus now shifts to upcoming bilateral series, the Asia Cup, and preparations for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Stay tuned for more updates on Sri Lanka Cricket and the latest in the world of sports!

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Cricket

Stephen Fleming Defends MS Dhoni’s Batting Position Amid Criticism

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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has defended MS Dhoni’s late entry in the batting order, stating that the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman cannot play an extended innings at full intensity due to lingering knee concerns.

The 43-year-old Dhoni faced criticism after coming in at No. 9 during CSK’s 50-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk. In the next match against Rajasthan Royals on March 30, 2025, he batted at No. 7 when CSK required 54 off 25 balls but managed just 16 off 11 as his team fell short by six runs.

Fleming’s Explanation on Dhoni’s Role

Fleming emphasized that Dhoni carefully assesses the match situation before deciding when to bat.

“It’s all about timing. MS judges his body and situation. His knees aren’t what they used to be, so he can’t bat for 10 overs at full intensity. He will step in based on the game’s demands,” Fleming explained at the post-match press conference.

The CSK coach reiterated that Dhoni remains too valuable to the team for his leadership and wicketkeeping and that sending him in too early could be a strategic misstep.

“From around the 13th or 14th over, he assesses the situation and decides. He trusts other batters early on but steps up when needed.”

CSK’s Struggles in the Powerplay Cost Them the Match

Fleming also pinpointed CSK’s poor powerplay performance as a key reason for their loss against Rajasthan Royals. While RR blasted 79/1 in the powerplay, CSK only managed 42/1,

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