Former Sri Lanka batsman Thilan Samaraweera is working with some Australia Test players ahead of their tour to Sri Lanka, in his brief consulting stint at Australias National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.Samaraweera has been hired as a consultant for the academy from June to August. Though his role is not specifically geared towards preparing Australia Test players for the forthcoming tour, he has already begun to work with Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh, and Jackson Bird, as they prepare for the tour.At the moment Im involved with the National Cricket Academy in Brisbane, Samaraweera said. Im working with a few Test players who are not involved in that West Indies tri-series. They are just coming here to train.Samaraweera, who lives in Melbourne, said he was unlikely to accompany the Australia team on their Sri Lanka tour, and that he was also working with Australias A team players. He had had a previous stint at the academy, ahead of the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh earlier this year, which the Australia Under-19 side eventually withdrew from.Cricket Australia has also prepared two turning pitches at the academy in order to emulate Sri Lankan conditions. It is on these surfaces that Samaraweera has been working with the Test players.Ive had a hit on the spin wicket here and its very good - very similar to what you get on the subcontinent and it was a challenging net session, Marsh said. Samaraweera was throwing a few offies as well, and its been really good to chat to him and get a bit of an insight into the sort of conditions well be facing in the next couple of months. Hes been helping with advice on how to play spin, hes good to chat about that with.Hiring coaches accustomed to local conditions isnt a new concept for Australia. S Sriram, the former India batsman, was consultant of the A team for their tour of India in 2015 and the senior squad for the World T20 in 2016, Muttiah Muralitharan, the former Sri Lanka spinner, was roped in to work with the spinners during Australias Test tour of UAE in 2014. Allan Donald, in April this year, was appointed as the teams fast bowling mentor for their tour of Sri Lanka.Australia arrive in Sri Lanka in early July, well ahead of the first Test, which begins in Pallekele on July 26. Cheap Mariners Jerseys China . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Dee Gordon Jersey . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. http://www.cheapmarinersjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-mike-marjama-jersey . PAUL, Minn. James Paxton Jersey . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Felix Hernandez Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months.DETROIT -- Detroit needed to win each of its last four games of the regular season just to get into the NHL playoffs for the 22nd straight season. After rallying from a 3-2 series deficit against Anaheim, the seventh-seeded Red Wings refused to be knocked out and credited that regular-season streak for getting them to the second round. "Those last four games really helped our team," Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "We almost had a series before the post-season started." The Red Wings reward isnt much of a prize. The leagues top-seeded team, the Chicago Blackhawks, will host Game 1 on Wednesday night to start a best-of-seven series in which theyll be heavily favoured. During the regular season, Chicago beat Detroit in overtime once, twice in shootouts and added a 7-1 rout March 31 at Joe Louis Arena. "They had our number the regular season," Zetterberg said. "Its a great team. Theyre stacked with forwards. Theyre stacked in the back line. And they have a good goalie. Its going to be a tough series for us, but its going to be a fun one." Its also might be the last time the two Original Six teams play each other in the post-season for a long time. After this year, the next time they would meet in the playoffs, it would be for the Stanley Cup. The Western Conference rivals, who have split a dozen seven-game series, will be interconference foes next year because Detroit is headed to the Eastern Conference as part of the leagues realignment. The Red Wings might be able to play loose with nothing to lose because few outside of their dressing room will expect them to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2009. That year, Detroit eliminated Chicago in five games and wwas a win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions.dddddddddddd Detroit is hoping to make another run this post-season, perhaps following the path the Los Angeles Kings did last year as the first team seeded eighth to win an NHL championship. "In the league right now, any team can beat any team," Red Wings defenceman Kyle Quincey said. "We said from Day 1, we knew it would be tough to get into playoffs and we battled all the way to the end. We just said to try to get in and see what happens. We saw what LA did last year and hopefully we can keep going and give Chicago a run." Detroit did outshoot the Blackhawks in three games, and had as many shots once. But the Red Wings couldnt score a clutch goal or make one more save in regulation, overtime or shootouts to win any of them. The Red Wings, though, have evolved into a different team than the last one Chicago saw April 12 in a 3-2 shootout win at the United Center. Detroit didnt get free agent defenceman Ryan Suter or forward Zach Parise in the off-season as both signed with Minnesota. But Detroits young defencemen, being forced to play a lot without Nicklas Lidstrom on the roster, have slowly matured and its inexperienced forwards have evolved into threats to score or set up teammates for goals. Goaltender Jimmy Howard has validated the teams decision to sign him to a six-year contract extension last month by making 70 saves over the last two games against Anaheim. While Howard insisted the Red Wings believe they can play with anybody, hes also not striking a cocky tone about trying to match up with Chicago. "Were going to have our hands full, lets be honest," he said. "Theyre a very deep team at every position." ' ' '