SL hosts first Aussie series in six years

COLOMBO, Mar 25 (AFP): Sri Lanka will play an all-format series at home against Australia from early June, the first in six years, the cricket board announced Friday.

They will play two Tests, five one-day internationals and three Twenty20 matches starting June 7, Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.

In Australia's last tour in July 2016, the visitors won all but one of the five ODIs and both T20s, but in the Warne-Muralitharan trophy lost the two Tests.

It was named after the world's two top Test wicket takers -- Australia's late Shane Warne and Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

The upcoming series will be played in Colombo, Kandy and Galle.

"The T20 Series will help our preparations for the T20 World Cup, whilst the Test and ODI segments are also competitions of immense value for us," Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley de Silva said.