so the currently concluded test match between SL n ENG brought an end to a very illustrious and entertaining career of JAYSURIYA. there were rumours that this series might be his last but his decision to call it the day after first test match was a definite shock/surprise for everyone. his recent poor form and lack of hunger for test cricket made it easy for him to retire. i’m sure test cricket arena will definitely miss his hard hittings and left-arm spin bowling. he did a lot for sri lankan cricket and sadly didn’t get the farewell befitting his services for all from supporters to fans to cricket board.
best wishes and prayers for the gr8 man and future. :k:
Batting and fielding averages Mat Runs HS Ave 100 50
Tests 109 6885 340 40.02 14 30
Bowling averages Mat Wkts Ave Econ SR
Tests 109 98 34.31 2.46 83.4
A wonderful player esp. in one-dayers. He served Sri Lanka cricket well (test debut 1991, ODI debut 1989) for 18 years. Sri Lankan cricket will be the poorer for his absence.
With his second innings knock of 78, Jaya maintained his test average of just over 40. He would be disappointed though at not making a hundred in his last test innings which would have also helped him to surpass 7,000 test runs.
110 tests, 6973 runs, ave. 40.07 (not bad but a player of his calibre should probably be averaging atleast 45+ in tests), 14 hundreds (disappointing return) and 31 fifties
He ended with 98 wickets. Oh well, lets not remember the guy for what he didn’t do. He played a pivotal role in making Sri Lanka a force to be reckoned with in international cricket. A great player and a fantastic role model. :k:
ps. Is he still playing ODI’s or he has already retired from ODI’s too?
What a remarkable player he was. He totally changed the scheme of things in ODI although Pakistan is sticking to their usual scheme of scoring MOST in last 10, most of the teams in the world now follow Jaiysuriya's model of MOST in first 10 ! ........ I hope we can see his mar-kutiee-sai-bharpoor-batting for some more time in ODI ......
I don't get it? Why could Jayasuriya not have announced that the third and final test against England would be his test swansong. I am sure all his team-mates and board officials would have respected his decision. I don't think he was in serious danger of being axed and there is no indication of any internal rift (cf. Inzi, Shoaib Malik apparently not keen on him continuing!). Why then retire in the middle of an ongoing series? He would have completed 7,000 test runs for sure and maybe got another 100 or so. Most strange..
My first memory of sanath was when i saw him spank the hell out of waqar and wasim in a test match in Pak in 1991, wasim and waqar were at their fastest in their whole life and the way sanath handeled them it was great to watch...he had a great partnership with Tilkaratne who scored 40+, the partnership was not huge but they batted against wasim n waqar better than anybody had in previous 15 months and thats why i have not forgotten that inning.