TWO Lancashire cricketers have teamed up with England legend Ian Botham to walk across Sri Lanka for charity.

East Lancashire Cricket Club’s Nick Turner, and Sri Lankan spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, who played for Lancashire between 1999 and 2007, are taking part in Beefy’s Big Sri Lanka Walk 2013.

The 160-mile journey, from the north to the south in searing hot sun, will raise money for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

East Lancashire all-rounder, Nick, 31, one of five brothers to play for the club, flew out to the island on October 28 to take part in the marathon.

Nick, who lives in Blackburn, said: “We are walking 160 miles in the heat and humidity of Sri Lanka to raise money, to rebuild communities that have been devastated by civil war in the north, and for the recovery effort in the south following 2004’s catastrophic tsunami.”

The temperature reached 50 degrees celsius as the walk got under way in Mankulam on November 1.

Nick is joined on the walk by his partner Donna Sefton and former Lancashire and England physio Dave Roberts who runs a clinic in Cherry Tree, Blackburn.

Botham, 60, has raised money for charities in the country since 2004, when it was battered by the Boxing Day tsunami. He is due to arrive in Seenigama tomorrow after walking for a week with various former and present cricket stars. Money can be donated online by visiting www.justgiving. com/nick-turner9