World-beating England plan to turn "timid" back into "lethal" as they take out the frustrations of their Asian winter on the West Indies.

England Test captain Andrew Strauss has expressed his frustration at having his players defend him following his lengthy run without a century and his team's poor form on the sub-continent.

View From The Middle: I know that things have not gone my way but I haven't lost any confidence

Sri Lanka 275 & 4-0 England 460: England victory in sight after masterful ton

Sri Lanka 238-6 v England: England's strike bowler makes early inroads again before Sri Lanka captain hits another century – but late wickets put Test in balance

Mahela Jayawardene scored another stylish century as Sri Lanka and England scrapped for control of the second Test on day one in Colombo.

Andrew Strauss expects Sri Lankan conditions to provide a tough physical test for England.

View From the Middle: I will hit the ground running in Colombo after my Birmingham heat chamber sessions

The last time Michael Ondaatje visited Sri Lanka in a novel was in 2000 with Anil's Ghost where, through a series of fragmented narratives, he presented a story of waste in a time of war. Now he returns. Only on this occasion it is not modern Sri Lanka with which he deals, but the lost and mythical island called Ceylon, a country as foreign as the past, and as extinct as the dinosaur. Ondaatje is both poet and novelist and his use of English is elegant and beautiful. He writes, not in the worn-out clichés that are current in Sri Lanka, but with a feel for an international language that post-Ceylonese nationalism tried hard to strip from the education system of a whole generation.

Christopher Gosden was a traveller, performer, translator, linguist, writer and an exceptional teacher.

in a set-back for Sri Lanka's ruling party, the Tamil National Alliance has won a landslide victory in local elections, capturing 20 out of 25 seats it contested in areas formerly held by rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Starting a family usually means a move from the metropolis to a more spacious place in the country. But for one couple, relocating to the capital was the natural choice when they had their daughter.

The Government of Sri Lanka is contesting a report by the United Nations which reveals that tens of thousands of civilians died in its final offensive to end the country's civil war two years ago. Most of them were killed by government shelling which targeted hospitals and UN and Red Cross centres, a UN panel of experts has found. The acts were war crimes, the report says. It is not a one-sided document. It also says that the Tamil Tiger rebels used 330,000 civilians as human shields, and shot those who tried to escape. But both sides contest its findings. The government insists it can prove it never targeted civilians. The rebels claim that the last-minute truce the government offered was not long enough to allow civilians to safely leave the conflict zone.

Sri Lanka has a tropical climate which leads to hot and very humid conditions all year round. There is some variety across the island, with the central highlands experiencing a cooler and more temperate climate, while coastal areas are moderated by sea breezes. The country also experiences a dry season and two wet seasons, with the latter coming from monsoon rain that falls in opposite halves of the country.