Sri Lanka has clinched two international medals at the 6th Asian U18 Athletics Championships 2025 which began on April 15 in Saudi Arabia.

Dananjana Sewmini Fernando won the silver medal in the girls under-18 100m with a time of 11:9:2 seconds while Lahiru Achintha won the bronze medal in the under-18 1,500m.

Achintha achieved this medal by completing the event in 3:59:47 minutes.

Sri Lankan seamer Kasun Rajitha has joined Essex on a five-match deal for the Rothesay County Championship.

Chris Silverwood, former Sri Lanka head coach and current Essex director of cricket, played a key role in signing Kasun Rajitha.

“We are delighted to welcome Kasun to Essex and very much look forward to watching him perform in the County Championship,” said Silverwood. “I know his experience and skill set will certainly help strengthen our already superb bowling attack.”

In a statement released by Essex, Rajitha added: “It is a really proud moment for me to be joining Essex. I have followed the team over the years, and they have always produced excellent and entertaining first-class cricket.

“I am joining a strong bowling unit and look forward to contributing on the field and helping the team win matches. I would like to thank Chris Silverwood for giving me this opportunity and Sri Lanka Cricket for allowing me to further hone my skills.”

Rajitha joins Essex after fast bowler Sam Cook’s injury. Rajitha’s addition is also seen as a solution to the loss of Shardul Thakur, who was called up for the IPL, according to the Essex management.

The 31-year-old The right-armer has 18 Test caps, with 55 wickets at 29.58, and returned a career-best 5 for 56 in the last of those appearances, in March 2024 against Bangladesh.

He is scheduled to make his debut tomorrow (April 18) against Worcestershire at Chelmsford.

Cricket will be staged at a purpose-built temporary venue at the Fairgrounds in Pomona, Southern California, during the 2028 Olympics Games hosted by Los Angeles, the LA28 organising committee announced on Tuesday.

Pomona is about 50km to the east of Los Angeles and the Fairgrounds, officially known as Fairplex, is a 500-acre complex that has hosted the Los Angeles County Fair since 1922.

The LA28 Olympics, which will be held from July 14 to 30, sees cricket return to the event for the first time since 1900 when Great Britain played France in a two-day game.

There will be a six-team competition for men and women with the sport having been allocated 90 athlete quotas, meaning there will be 15-player squads for each. The qualifying pathway and cut-offs are yet to be determined.

“We welcome the announcement of the venue for cricket at Los Angeles 2028 as it is a significant step towards the preparation for our sport’s return to the Olympics,” Jay Shah, the ICC chair, said. “Although cricket is a hugely popular sport, it will be a fantastic opportunity to expand traditional boundaries when it features in the Olympics in the fast-paced, exciting T20 format that should appeal to new audiences.”

During last year’s men’s T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean, a pop-up stadium was built in New York, which hosted the India-Pakistan contest among its fixtures, with Central Broward Stadium in Lauderhill and Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas also used.

Cricket joins five new sports at LA28 – baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash.

There is an expectation that cricket will be retained for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane with the finals of the event being planned as the last matches to be staged at the Gabba before it is demolished.

(espncricinfo.com)

(This story, originally published by espncricinfo.com has not been edited by SLM staff)