@Wagner

Used this and it did work. i got exactly what i want ...

<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="City" ItemStyle-Width="5cm" HeaderStyle-ForeColor="Blue"

HeaderStyle-CssClass="Header_borderline" SortExpression="Cities">

<ItemTemplate>

<%# Replace(Container.DataItem("Cities"), ",", "(br)")%>

</ItemTemplate>

</asp:TemplateField>

However if someone out there got a tsql solution would apreciate if he can still share it ....

replace ( by < and ) by > : had to do that to avoid embedded html being interpreted

Thanks all for your responses ... much appreciated