COLOMBO, Sept 28: Sri Lan-ka’s off-spin king Muttiah Muralitharan will miss the first two matches of the home One-day International series against England starting next week because of an elbow injury, captain Mahela Jayawardene said on Thursday.

“I would definitely say that he (Muralitharan) is probably out for the first couple of games,” Jayawardene said, adding that the team management does not want to risk Muralitharan.

England and Sri Lanka play the first of their five-match series on Oct 1, with England returning for a three-match Test series starting on Dec 1.

The off-spinner sustained an elbow injury while playing for English County Lancashire and missed the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, played in South Africa earlier this month.

“He is almost there, but we just have to make a decision whether we would like to risk him like this soon after injury,” Jayewardene said, referring to Sri Lanka’s main trump. “We will make sure that we will make a sensible decision on Murali.”

England will also be handicapped without all-rounder Andrew Flintoff because of an ankle injury.—AP