Sport 02-12-2003 Sri Lanka v England First Test who: England cricket team what: Without Nasser Hussein on first day of first Test where: Sri Lanka when: Today snippet: Former skipper Nasser Hussain woke up with a viral infection this morning and pulled out of the first day of the first Test against Sri Lanka, reports The Evening Standard`s website, thisislondon.com. He was replaced by Paul Collingwood, who will be making his Test debut. Sadly, rain stopped play with Sri Lanka 83-1 "after England made a much-needed breakthrough to remove Sanath Jayasuriya for 48," says the BBC. "Ashley Giles` strike brought to a close a promising opening stand, which put on 76 runs." Play is due to resume at time of publishing. Never mind a stomach bug, several papers are report that 26 year-old Worcestershire spinner Gareth Batty`s nearly lost his life on Sunday while out surfing with Matthew Hoggard and Michael Vaughan. The Yorkshireman escaped with only cuts and bruises after hew was swept on to rocks that Batty describes as "hellish sharp". Vaughan managed to attract the attention of lifeguards who came to his aid. "It was frightening," he says. "This wave took me up and actually whacked me into the rocks and as soon as I got up, another wave knocked me over, so I was on the rocks being dragged around. That was the scary bit..." [... more]

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