Mathews and Gamage out of Sri Lanka’s West Indies tour

Hadlee undergoes cancer surgery

COLOMBO, June 13, (Agencies): Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews will miss the rest of their West Indies tour after he left for home due to personal reasons, while fast bowler Lahiru Gamage was ruled out with an injury.

The duo’s return is a major setback for Sri Lanka, who suffered a crushing 226-run defeat in the first of the threeTest series at Port of Spain on Sunday.

Former captain Mathews, who scored 11 and 31 in the opening Test, was determined to make a mark after missing five months of action with Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando to replace Gamage.

New Zealand cricketing great Richard Hadlee has undergone surgery for bowel cancer but is expected to make a full recovery, his wife Dianne said Wednesday. “Last month, Richard had a routine, three-year colonoscopy, and we discovered that he has bowel cancer,” she said in a statement.

“He has since had an operation to remove the tumour. This operation went extremely well and he has made an excellent recovery from surgery.”

Dianne Hadlee said that as a safeguard, the 66-year-old fast bowling legend would soon commence chemotherapy treatment and “it is expected that, in time, he will have a full recovery”.

Hadlee is regarded as one of the greaTest fast bowlers of all time, and was the first to take 400 Test wickets.

Hadlee