'Living in terror' helped cricketers

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene says living and working in a country troubled by civil war helped save his team as it came under fire from gunmen in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore.

The Sri Lankan team returned on a special charter flight early yesterday to the capital Colombo, where the exhausted-looking players had an emotional private reunion with their families. One of the players was taken from the airport to a hospital in Colombo.

Jayawardene said his players' immediate reaction in taking cover when gunmen attacked their team convoy on Tuesday could be attributed to the situation in his country.