Tell you what we like in cricket: we like people who made their names doing one spectactular thing in particular to do exactly that thing only at a slightly advanced age.

For example, you might say to a cricketing newcomer: “This is Sanath Jayasuriya. He’s famous for scoring runs ludicrously quickly at the start of one-day matches. He probably won’t do it now though, because he’s getting on a bit.”

But he does do it! Things are exactly the same!

No player deteriorates. Everything is exactly the same. The old, balding master is still infinitely more masterful than the trendy young kids.

Okay, so Benevolent Uncle Sanath’s 55-ball hundred was against Bangladesh, but we can go a bit overboard because it was his birthday (39) and he did carve up the IPL as well, don’t forget.

Tags: Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka by King Cricket
5 Comments »

Test cricket is losing its pirate. Sanath Jayasuriya has boomed his last ‘ha-haaaa’ to the point boundary. He’s carrying on in one-day internationals, so it’s not the ‘end-end’. It’s just an end. A bit of a sad one.

It wasn’t sad watching him, though. He larruped every ball of one James Anderson over for four. ‘Ha-haaaa, take that!’ he said. ‘And that. And that. And, er, that. And that. Sod it - take that as well (might as well have the full set.)

His final Test innings was a rapid and crucial 78, which is a perfect Jayasuriya innings. Okay, he hit 340 once (Sri Lanka 952-6 declared v India) but the quickfire fifty was more his thing.

We’ll remember Jayasuriya for the occasions when we first saw a Sri Lankan score when he was already out. ‘Eh? That can’t be right, can it?’ we’d think, before a commentator would enlighten us by saying that our baldy pirate had hit 55 off 20 balls before anyone realised the match had started.

We propose that a scything cut be renamed ‘a Sanath’ in his honour. ‘Michael Clarke played a searing Sanath over the point fielder’s head to reach his fifty.’

Sri Lanka v England, day three of the first Test at Kandy
Sri Lanka 188 all out (Kumar Sangakkara 92, Prasanna Jayawardene 51, Matthew Hoggard 4-29, Monty Panesar 3-46)
England 281 (Ian Bell 83, Muttiah Muralitharan 6-55)
Sri Lanka 167-2 (Benevolent Uncle Sanath 78)

Tags: England, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka by King Cricket
No Comments »