Doubts about England tour

England's imminent tour of Sri Lanka was thrown into doubt today as a political crisis erupted on the island.

Michael Vaughan's squad are due to leave Bangladesh next Thursday and head straight for Colombo to start a six-week programme of one-day internationals and Test matches.

Today, Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga deployed troops around the capital and fired three key ministers who were trying to coax Tamil rebels back into talks to end a 20-year civil war.

Kumaratunga also suspended Parliament for two weeks. Her political opponents have a thin majority in the 225-seat legislature.

Kumaratunga made the surprise power grab against her rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, while he was in Washington to meet US President George W Bush. Wickremesinghe condemned the action and described it as "an irresponsible move aimed at plunging the country into chaos and anarchy".

England will seek information before making any decisions.

"We haven't heard anything about it at this end," said spokesman Andrew Walpole from the team's Dhaka hotel.