Atapattu to miss New Zealand Tests

Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lankan captain, has ruled himself out of the first half of the New Zealand tour starting later this month. Atapattu, 35, said that he was not ready to return to Test cricket and would concentrate on the one-day game until he felt confident.

Atapattu underwent surgery for a recurring back injury in April to remove disc material that that was touching a troubled nerve, and returned for Sri Lanka's Champions Trophy campaign. "I was quite comfortable playing in the Champions trophy and did not feel any pain at all," Atapattu told reporters. "But I am taking precautions to ensure that I don't get a relapse of the injury. If it gets to me again I know how tough it is going to be. I don't want to rush into things too soon but take it one step at a time."

Sri Lanka open up their tour with two Test matches, but Atapattu made himself available only for the two Twenty20 matches and the five-match one-day series starting on December 22.

Mahela Jayawardene, who stepped in after Atapattu withdrew from the tour to Bangladesh in March, has been retained as captain until the end of the Word Cup.