England players hit by stomach virus in Sri Lanka

LONDON, Sep 27 (Reuters) England's build-up to their one-day series in Sri Lanka has been hit by a stomach virus sweeping through the squad.

Captain Paul Collingwood, fast bowler Stuart Broad, Luke Wright and Alastair Cook have all been hit by the bug and are doubtful for England's only warm-up match in Colombo against a Sri Lanka President's XI on Friday.

''A few of the lads have gone down with some sort of stomach illness,'' coach Peter Moores said on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Web site (www.ecb.co.uk).

''If it's like Stuart's it was only a 24- to 36-hour thing so hopefully it will clear up pretty quickly. Stuart trained for the first time today and is still a bit weak and it looks like it's going to be one or two days for the rest of the lads.'' The first game in the five-match series is in Dambulla on Monday.

REUTERS BJR HS1424