Sri Lanka ban BBC but the Aggers show goes on

BBC Radio had to cover the First Test in Sri Lanka from the ramparts of a fort today after their cricket reporters were refused entry to the ground.

Correspondent Jonathan Agnew, producer Peter Baxter and reporters Pat Murphy and Eddie Bevan spent more than an hour trying to talk their way into the stadium but then set up camp on the fort wall 200 yards away.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board say the BBC should pay an "access fee" before filing extended reports.

The BBC have lost the rights for ball-by-ball coverage of the series to rivals Talk-SPORT but are allowed to broadcast short updates.

The dispute centres on how long those updates should be before a fee is payable.