Ceremony to honour Sanath

To commemorate the 100th test appearance of Sri Lanka's opening batsman, Sanath Jayasuriya, the Chairman and the members of the Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket have organized a presentation to felicitate the milestone reached by the great all rounder.

Prior to the commencement of the game the Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket will conduct a simple ceremony at 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday 20th September 2005 at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.

A commemorative watch will be presented by Akram Cassim, Managing Director, Colombo Jewellery Limited. This Event will be scheduled on the first day of the 2nd test match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh that will be Jayasuriya's one hundredth test match since his debut in 1991 in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Tributes to Sanath Jayasuriya

Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu :

"It's a significant achievement because Sanath becomes the first Sri Lankan to reach that milestone.

Along the way he has also achieved a couple of other personal milestones as well. As captain he has got a few good wins for Sri Lanka.

All in all he should be pretty happy about the career he's had. I wish him all the best for the future and hopefully he will continue delivering for Sri Lanka."

Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody :

"It's an outstanding milestone. Sri Lanka is relatively a new Test nation and Sanath is the first to play in 100 Tests.

It is a great honour for him to reach that landmark from a personal point of view, and from Sri Lanka cricket's point of view to produce a player who has reached the milestone. He's a great example of true professionalism. Let's hope he celebrates his 100th with a good personal game and a good team game."

Bangladesh coach (and former Sri Lanka coach) Dav Whatmore :

"It's a great honour for him to play 100 Tests. He had some injuries over the years but he's bounced back pretty well. He is a fairly fit guy. He never liked the fitness part of it but he's done it to have a long career lasting 14 years.

He's a very effective one-day cricketer. He performs superbly in all three departments. In Test matches he has been a good maker of runs over the years and his bowling is very handy. He is a great servant of Sri Lanka cricket."