Sri Lanka’s sports minister has urged Kumar Sangakkara to reconsider plans to retire from Test cricket by asking him to play on for another year.

Navin Dissanayake told reporters that he hoped a government-ordered overhaul of Sri Lanka Cricket might persuade the 37-year-old to stick around a bit longer after he again underlined his class at the World Cup.

‘As sports minister, I humbly appeal to Kumar to reconsider (retirement) and play for the country for at least one more year,’ the minister said in Colombo.

Dissanayake said he hoped that the appointment of an interim management team, headed by former test player Sidath Wettimuny, would demonstrate the new government’s determination to ‘clean up’ the governing body which has been beset by accusations of corruption and mismanagement.

‘I spoke with him [Sangakkara] in New Zealand during the World Cup,’ the minister said in Colombo.

‘He was very disappointed and unhappy (with the cricket administration) and now that there is a change, I think there is a possibility that he will change his mind.’ – AFP

HAFEEZ’S BOWLING ACTION UNDER MICROSCOPE

Pakistani all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez will undergo a reassessment test on his bowling action in India on April 9 to try to revive his struggling career, a statement said Wednesday.

The 34-year-old off-spinner’s action was deemed illegal after a bio-mechanical test at Loughborough University in England last December.

He was reported during a test against New Zealand last November, badly hitting Pakistan’s preparations for the World Cup which ended with Australia’s triumph on Sunday.

Before Hafeez, Pakistan’s ace spinner Saeed Ajmal was also suspended for an illegal bowling action.

Hafeez was selected for the World Cup purely as a batsman but had to be withdrawn after injuring a calf muscle.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said Hafeez would go to India for a re-test following approval by the International Cricket Council (ICC). – AFP