Jayasuriya announces retirement

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Legendary all rounder Sanath Jayasuriya yesterday announced his retirement from international cricket and the up coming series against England will be his farewell.

However the 42 year old veteran opening batsman said that he will play only the Twenty20 International against England on June 25 at Bristol and in the opening One Day International which is scheduled for June 28 at the Oval.

Jayasuriya stated that he was pleased to return back to the national team after a lapse of one and a half years but had made up his mind to retire after the first one day international against England.

The dashing left hander played his previous one day match against India in December 2009 having earlier quit the Test arena in 2007.

But he continued to play in the shorter version of the game and contributed for the success of the team in a significant manner.

Jayasuriya a veteran of 444 one day internationals believe that he was selected for the England series because of his talent and potential and for the confidence the selectors had on him.

He said that he could look back at his career with a great amount of satisfaction although there were several ups and downs from the moment he stepped into the national team. In fact Jayasuriya started his career as a solid middle order batsman and a genuine spinner who was able to pick up vital wickets and brake dangerous partnerships.

He was promoted to open the batting during the tour of India in 1993 and went on to add a new dimension into the game during the 1996 World Cup in the sub continent.

Jayasuriya believes that the 1996 World Cup in the sub continent was the pinnacle of his career where he scored some of the most memorable innings to win the Man of the Series award.

In the longer version of the game he will always cherish the one off Test match against England in 1998 where he hammered a trail blazing 213 from 278 deliverers inclusive of one six and 33 boundaries.

Jayasuriya also played a major role in Sri Lanka’s historic 5 nil clean sweep in the one day international series in England in 2006.

He was in tremendous form compiling two centuries and ended up with 322 runs. His best effort in that series came in the fifth and final one day international where he put on a massive 286 runs opening stand along with Upul Tharanga.

Jayasuriya said that his biggest disappointment was when he was overlooked for the 2011 World Cup where Sri Lanka emerged runners up to India in the sub continent.

He was looking forward towards making his presence felt especially after scoring heavily in the domestic and provincial tournaments. But the former National Selection Committee headed by Aravinda de Silva decided against and the inclusion of Jayasuriya from the 15 member squad.

Jayasuriya stated that he had not yet decided on his future plans after retirement but is always prepared to help Sri Lanka Cricket in any capacity.

Squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Thilina Kandamby (vice-capt), Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Dinesh Chandimal, Jeevan Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thissara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Suranga Lakmal, Dilhara Fernando, Suraj Randiv, Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Sanath Jayasuriya.