growing hockey in China. For starters, its an expensive sport, Hu saconsider. In

England take on Sri Lanka at Headingley in the first Test of the three-match Investec series, at the start of a summer that could end with them holding all nine Test trophies. After victory in South Africa over the winter, Alastair Cooks men possess seven and can complete the set with series wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan on home soil.However, while England head into the series as favourites against a young Sri Lankan team, they will be wary of the threat posed by the tourists.Indeed, on their most recent tour of England, Sri Lanka emerged victorious after earning a draw at Lords and claiming a dramatic win at Headingley.Team newsSteven Finn has been given the nod to start ahead of the uncapped Jake Ball, Cook confirmed.Steven Finn is going to play, the England skipper said. Hes been outstanding when hes been fit for us. I think everyone kind of knew that.There will though be a Test debut for James Vince. The Hampshire batsman, who has featured for England in limited overs cricket during the winter, is expected to slot in at five, replacing the recently-retired James Taylor. Dhammika Prasad will miss the first Test with a shoulder injury Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will be without seamer Dhammika Prasad at Headingley after he was ruled out with a shoulder injury sustained in their warm-up game at Essex.The 32-year-old will not miss the whole series though and is expected to be fit to return for the second Test at Chester-le-Street.While the team has been shorn of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara since their last visit, Sri Lanka will be pleased by the form of Kusal Mendis in their warm-up games and Dimuth Karunaratne should also arrive in Leeds in confident mood after a century against Leicestershire last week.Form Will England start their Test Match summer with a win over Sri Lanka? Watch all the action live on Sky Sports from Thursday at 10am Since defeat to Sri Lanka in 2014, England have lost just one of their last six Test series in a run that includes victories over India, South Africa and Australia.Their one defeat came against Pakistan in the UAE last autumn but was swiftly followed by the aforementioned triumph in South Africa, ensuring England head into the opener full of confidence.By contrast, Sri Lanka have played seven Test series since overcoming England two years ago, losing five. Home victories over Pakistan, in 2014, and the West Indies last year are their only successes and they come into the series on the back of a 2-0 whitewash in New Zealand.Watch England take on Sri Lanka in the first Test at Headingley from 10am on Thursday, live on Sky Sports 2. You can also keep up-to-date with all the action by following our live blog on skysports.com/cricket and catch highlights and The Verdict on Sky Sports after each days play. Stitched NFL Jerseys . Los Angeles announced its new deal for Kupchak late in the fourth quarter of a 145-130 loss to the Houston Rockets. Kupchak had one year left on his current contract. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Authentic . But back-up Peter Budaj has put up two wins and an overtime loss while starting three games in four nights since Price went down with a suspected groin injury. http://www.authenticnfljerseys.net/ . -- Packers cornerback Tramon Williams has been fined $26,250 for contact with an official, per NFL guidelines. China NFL Jerseys .C. -- Duke sophomore Rodney Hood is entering the NBA draft. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys .Shipulin pulled away from Martin Fourcade of France, Simon Eder of Austria and Fredrik Lindstrom of Sweden to finish in 35 minutes 16.8 seconds. Fourcade was 1.2 seconds back in second place to reclaim the overall World Cup lead, with Eder another 0.Canadas largest sports company wants the Maple Leafs to become Chinas favourite hockey team, in much the same way Manchester United is the most popular soccer team in the worlds most populous country. At the same time as Chinese government officials have asked the NHL to stage a regular-season game in China as early as next season, TSN has learned four executives with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment are scheduled to leave Friday for Beijing for meetings to help grow hockey in China, an untapped frontier for many sports leagues around the world. MLSE chief commercial officer Dave Hopkinson, Bo Hu, MLSEs executive in charge of Chinese business, and two colleagues will attend meetings in Beijing with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his staff, and Chinese government officials. Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan was scheduled to participate but canceled at the last minute, a team spokesperson said. (The NHL and NHLPA announced forward Carter Ashton was suspended for 20 games on Thursday after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Ashton said he borrowed another athletes asthma inhaler.) MLSE executives, the 27-year-old Hu in particular, have quietly laid the groundwork for building the companys profile in China over the past three years. Because basketball is so popular in China, MLSE staff first established relationships with companies interested in sponsorship agreements with the Raptors. The basketball team now has sponsorships with Chinese auto tire maker Aeolus Tires and Asus, a laptop maker. MLSE has also partnered with I.T. company Huawei on music-industry projects. Its believed that MLSE garners more than $300,000 from each of those sponsorships. Company officials declined to say how much sponsorship revenue they make from China-based companies. As MLSEs relationships in China matured, the company landed meetings with the Chinese government - meetings where MLSE received an attractive offer. China is competing with Kazakhstan to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. China wants to have hockey teams that are competitive. But with a mens national team thats ranked No. 38 — behind New Zealand, Belgium and Iceland — China needs help getting to that point. China wasnt a sports nation before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, but it is now, Hopkinson said in an interview. The president of the country attended the Team Canada mens hockey games in Sochi and said he fell in love with hockey. Whats important to the president of China is important to China. Chinese officials said in exchange for helping to develop grass-roots hockey programs in China, the government would help MLSE promote the Maple Leafs brand there. This is the most storied and established brand in the game, Hopkinson said. We were told that if they were going to partner in the NFL, it would be with the Dallas Cowboys. If they were doing a baseball deal, it would be with the New York Yankees. And if theres a partnership in the NHL, its going to be with the Maple Leafs. It doesnt hurt that the Leafs are based in Canada. Tensions might appear if a U.S.-based team tried to do what the Leafs hope to do. The Chinese have told us they really appreciate what we are doing, boots on the ground, helping them to develop a hockey competency, said Hopkinson, who has made four previous trips to China. In March, the Leafs converted all of their rink boards to Chinese to welcome Chinese viewers. In August, the team sent staff to Beijing and Shanghai to stage hockey camps for young amateur players. In coming weekks, the Leafs will aid in the production of a 10-part Hockey 101 series to be included in NHL broadcasts on CCTV in China to educate viewers.dddddddddddd We arent the only team in China, Hu said. The Canucks and Islanders are there, too, but we really have a plan to become the biggest hockey brand there. We want to keep holding camps for kids, building grass roots interest, and eventually take our Maple Leafs players there. This is the Manchester United model. The worlds most famous soccer club says it has 108 million fans in China, where it has played almost a dozen times since 1975. Hu said because the NHL prevents teams from promoting themselves outside their local territories, MLSE has been targeting Chinese companies such as Air China and the Bank of China that want to expand their business in Canada. There are a lot of Chinese mining companies that have investments in Canada, although we just signed an agreement with a Colombian mining company, Hu said. Hu confirmed Chinese officials have told the NHL they are interested in hosting an NHL game as soon as next season. As any seasoned marketer knows, the payoff for a team to break through in China is huge. In its recent filing for an initial public offering, Alibaba reported just 45.8 per cent of Chinas population uses the Internet, far lower than Canada or the U.S. In 2000, four per cent of urban households in China were considered middle class; by 2012, more than two-thirds of those homes had gained that status, earning between $9,000 and $16,000. In 2022, Chinas middle class may eclipse 630 million consumers. There already are signs that China, a non-traditional hockey market to be sure, is open to a new sport. Last year, the state broadcaster CCTV began showing four live NHL games every week. This is CCTVs second year of a three-year deal with the NHL. NHL games broadcast on the weekend in China have attracted an average 800,000 households - airing at 7 a.m. local time. By comparison, televised Leafs games in Canada with national distribution this season have attracted about 1.5 million viewers. This year, Beijings 150 registered teams have 2,300 players between the ages of six and 15, MLSE says. Still, there are challenges to growing hockey in China. For starters, its an expensive sport, Hu said, thanks to 30 per cent import duties for hockey equipment shipped from the west and expensive ice time. There are politics to consider. In 2005, the newspaper Beijing Today accused western soccer teams of gold-digging, using their tours of China solely to build their brand and commercial presence. Some efforts simply dont translate. Manchester United closed a pair of theme restaurants after fans didnt see a connection between soccer fandom and eating out, The New York Times reported in 2007. Also, its unclear whether the NHL sees a big upside in China. The league does not have a senior vice president in change of expanding its international business, a position common in other pro sports leagues. Moreover, the NBA has a long head start in China, where it began to lay a toehold during the 1990s. Now, the NBA attracts some five million viewers a game in China. In the U.S., NBA broadcasts on cable TV get about two million viewers per game. Its doubtful that the NHL would ever grow business through the sale of team jerseys. While authentic jerseys now sell for $330 in Canada, counterfeiting has flourished in China, bringing down the price of knock-off jerseys to $5 or $10 in some cases. ' ' '