Galle delays force change to England tour of Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, June 25 (Reuters) The itinerary for England's tour of Sri Lanka at the end of the year has been changed because of delays to construction work in Galle.

Galle International Stadium, originally the venue for the first test, will now host the third and final test starting on Dec. 18, with the opening match switching to Kandy.

''We did not want to take any risks with the post-tsunami construction work now taking place in Galle as there had been some delays,'' Sri Lanka Cricket Board secretary Kangadaran Mathivanan told reporters.

''We are extremely confident work will be completed in time for the third test and we are all looking forward to playing cricket in Galle again.'' The venues for the five one-day internationals between Oct. 1 and 13 remain unchanged, with the first three matches scheduled for Dambulla and the last two in Colombo.

England fly home for a short break after the one-dayers before returning for the test series.

Revised test schedule: Dec. 1-5 - 1st test (Kandy) Dec. 9-13 - 2nd test (Colombo) Dec. 18-22 - 3rd test (Galle) REUTERS BJR PM1725