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Joe Root has backed Alex Hales and Nick Compton to answer their critics when England take on Sri Lanka next week. Both batsmen are in a 12-man squad for the first Test at Headingley despite speculation they could miss out in the wake of up-and-down winter performances in South Africa.Neither scored a hundred during a four-match Test series, with opener Hales averaging just 17 and No 3 Compton under 31. But the only change to the batting personnel has seen Hampshire captain James Vince come in for James Taylor, whose sudden retirement left a place in the squad up for grabs.And Root told Sky Sports News HQ: We see these guys play a lot, we spend a lot of time together as a squad and we know what theyre capable of doing. Selectors kept the faith with Alex Hales (left) and Nick Compton Ive got every confidence in those guys ahead of me to go in and make big scores. Theyll want to prove a lot of people wrong whove been doubting them, and its a very exciting time for them.Vince, who is capped at one-day international and T20 level, is likely to make a first Test appearance after a decent start to the County Championship season including a century against Roots Yorkshire.James played extremely well against Yorkshire a few weeks ago, Root said. Hes been one of the guys over the past couple of years who have kept proving themselves.Englands other uncapped call-up, Nottinghamshire seam bowler Jake Ball, has also enjoyed success against Yorkshire this season and twice dismissed Root during a Division One game at Trent Bridge. Who is Jake Ball? A look at Englands new seamer He did for me, Root said. He was far too good for me, and hes a very talented cricketer.England will face tourists who have had to deal with the retirements of Test greats Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara since they won a two-match series on their last visit in 2014. Jake Ball twice dismissed Joe Root during Nottinghamshires Championship match against Yorkshire But Root said: It would be silly to be arrogant and think were going to wipe the floor with them. They have a lot of guys with a lot of talent who could do some special things in Test cricket.Roots team-mate Stuart Broad added: There is a bit of revenge to be had.I played in the Test matches at the start of 2014 and that was a tough time to play. It was quite an emotional series, it really hurt us as a team to lose in our own conditions.We know when we play Sri Lanka they play with a lot of pride and passion. Theyre always in the battle and they beat us in that battle last time.Vitality is partnering with England cricketer Joe Root who will take on the role of Ambassador. Joe will use his passion for healthy living to inspire everyone to be active and make positive changes to their lifestyle. Please visit www.vitality.co.uk for further information. Also See: Vince, Ball get England call Who is Jake Ball? England fixtures/results Get Sky Sports Discount Air Max Plus . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. Discount Air Max Plus Online . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. http://www.wholesaleairmaxplus.us/ . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. Wholesale Air Max .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. Authentic Air Max Plus . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Three female weightlifters from Kazakhstan have been stripped of gold medals from the 2012 London Olympics after failing retests of their doping samples.The Kazakh lifters were among eight athletes sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee on Thursday after their stored samples came back positive for steroids.Zulfiya Chinshanlo, Maiya Maneza and Svetlana Podobedova have been stripped of the gold medals they won in the 53-kilogram, 63kg and 75kg divisions, respectively. All three tested positive for the steroid stanozolol, with Chinshanlos sample also containing oxandrolone.The IOC did not say whether the medals would be reallocated to other athletes. If that happens, Christine Girard of Canada would be elevated to silver in the 63kg class and could get gold if a failed doping test from a Russian lifter who was the original second-place finisher also results in a ban.Also Thursday, a female weightlifter from Belarus was stripped of a bronze medal. Marina Shkermankova had finished third in the 69kg class. Also disqualified were two other Belarusian lifters, a Russian hammer thrower and a Russian pole vaulter, none of whom won medals.The punishments for the Kazakh and Belarusian weightlifters are now set to trigger an automatic one-year ban from all international weightlifting competitions for the two countries under International Weightlifting Federation rules imposing automatic bans if at least three of a countrys athletes fail Olympic retests.The IOC said a case against a Russian wrestler who won a silver medal was dropped because he died in a car crash three years ago.dddddddddddd The IOC disciplinary commission said Besik Kudukhovs result will stand because it cannot rule on doping cases involving the dead.The situation is unsatisfactory as it implies that Olympic results which would probably have had to be reviewed will remain uncorrected, the commission noted in its ruling.The IOC stores doping samples for 10 years so they can be reanalyzed when improved testing methods become available.The IOC recorded a total of 98 positive cases in recent retests of samples from the London Games and 2008 Beijing Olympics, with almost half of the cases in weightlifting.Weightlifting has long struggled with doping, but is under particular pressure over the retests. In one event from 2012, six of the top-10 finishers have tested positive.In August, IWF president Tamas Ajan told The Associated Press he hoped the sport would be allowed to stay on the Olympic program for future games despite its struggles with steroids, and said he wanted to ban leading countries from the sport for a year in a process he likened to shock therapy.The retests have also implicated a Kazakh gold medalist who is the sports biggest star on social media. Ilya Ilyin has failed retests from both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, though the IOC has not yet finished processing those cases. ' ' '