T20: SL register comprehensive victory

Australia was comprehensively outplayed in its one-off Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka, losing by seven wickets at the WACA ground in Perth.

Skipper Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bat first, a decision that backfired when Australia's top batsmen failed and relied on a rescue mission from the middle order to compile 8 for 133.

Australia's barely competitive total then always looked reachable with Sri Lanka's batsmen at the crease as the visitors cruised to victory with 3.3 overs the spare.

Typically, noted destroyer Kumar Sangakkara took it upon himself to bash the Australian attack, racking up 44 runs from 43 balls after the touring openers had put on 35 for the first wicket.

Mahela Jayawardene (24) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (41) got Sri Lanka off to a flying start, allowing Sangakkara to unleash his wrecking-ball style to see through a simple victory.

He was joined at the finish by the unheralded Thisara Perera, who made himself known to the WACA with three consecutive boundaries - including two cracking sixes - to finish off the Aussies in the 17th over.

Perera, who had earlier starred with the ball taking 2 for 22, punished spinner Steven Smith (1 for 35) to finish with 17 from just four deliveries as Sri Lanka celebrated its first ever Twenty20 win over Australia.

Earlier, Smith's innings of 34 was crucial to a 66-run partnership with Brad Haddin (35) that helped Australia avoid total humiliation, having joined forces in the 11th over of the home side's innings at 5 for 43.

The two sides will square off in Melbourne on Wednesday for the first of three one-day internationals.

England arrives for Ashes with cautious captain

Perth: England's cricket team arrived Down Under on Saturday for a five-match Ashes tour with its captain Andrew Strauss taking a cautious approach to the opposition.

Strauss said England would not target any members of the Australian team, including struggling captain Ricky Ponting, when the series begins with the first Test November 25 in Brisbane. England holds the Ashes after a 2-1 series win in England last year.

"I don't know what his (Ponting's) state of mind is but one thing I do know is we're not in the business of targeting opposition players," Strauss said. "My past experience is that if you say too much about opposition teams, it can come back and haunt you."

"We expect Australia to be very strong. Their record here is very good. When you're out here, you can't afford any passengers in your side, so you need all 11 to be performing and standing up at the right time."
Strauss' comments were in contrast to the ones made several days earlier when the team left England.

"I'm not sure about not being able to say hello to them, but until the end of that fifth test there's two sides at war with each other," Strauss said in London. "Both sides know that at the end of the series there's going to be 11 guys feted as heroes and 11 guys who failed in their task. Until that final Test is over there's no point being too hunky-dory or friendly with the opposition. Our task is to go out there and try to beat them."

Australia has slipped one spot below England to fifth in the ICC Test rankings but England has not taken a series Down Under since 1986-87 and has won just three of its last 26 Ashes tests in Australia - all when the outcome had already been decided.

Clarke says he doesn't want a rest

Michael Clarke says he wants to play every game across all forms of cricket in an exhausting summer schedule and is confident his body can handle the workload.

The middle order batsman returned to Sydney on Tuesday after captaining Australia in the three-match limited overs series after the two Test series in India.

He will have precious little respite as he leads Australia in a T20 International against Sri Lanka in Perth this Sunday.

While the selectors rested some other key players from the one-day series in India including skipper Ricky Ponting, Clarke is emphatic that he won't need a spell at any stage of Australia's marathon Ashes summer.

"I'd really like to be available for all games, all forms for Australia no doubt," Clarke told reporters at Sydney airport.

"I think my body is in a pretty good place at the moment.

"I haven't scored as many runs as I would like, so the only way to that is to get out there in the middle and I'd love to be doing it for Australia.

"So hopefully I'll be fighting fit and I'll play every game available."

Although he scored a century in the only one-day game in India which wasn't washed out, Clarke admitted he needed to lift his batting after a disappointing Test series in which he failed to average double figures.

Test vice-captain Clarke described criticism of Ponting's captaincy during the Tests as "a little bit harsh".

He also defended the effforts of the Ausrtralian middle order of Hussey, Marcus North and himself after they struggled to score consistently as a unit.