GALLE, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka are planning to give star batsman Mahela Jayawardene a fitting farewell by winning his remaining matches, captain Angelo Mathews said ahead of the first test against South Africa starting today.
On Monday, Jayawardene announced he will retire from the longest format of the game in August, after the two-test rubber against SA followed by two matches against Pakistan on August 6 and 18.
The 37-year-old right- hander will only be available for one-day internationals, having also retired from Twenty20 cricket in April.
"We need a player like him in the team, but he [Jayawardene] has decided to say goodbye," Mathews said at a pre-match press conference in Galle on yesterday.
"If we can send him off by winning all four tests it will be great."
Jayawardene has been the batting mainstay for SriLanka since his debut against India in 1997 and has amassed 11493 test runs over a career spanning 145 tests. With 33 hundreds and 48 fifties in his kitty, he is the joint sixth-highest run getter in test cricket along with teammate Kumar Sangakkara.
Mathews conceded it would be tough for his team to fill the shoes of Jayawardene.
The immediate task at hand for the home team is to get the better of the Proteas who won the recent one-day series 2-1 with an emphatic 82-run win in the decider last Saturday at Hambantota.
It was the first one-day series victory for SA on the island.
"They are a very balanced team and we have to be at our best to beat them, it's a huge challenge," Mathews said. - AFP
Plan to give Jayawardene winning sendoff
GALLE, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka are planning to give star batsman Mahela Jayawardene a fitting farewell by winning his remaining matches, captain Angelo Mathews said ahead of the first test against South Africa starting today.
On Monday, Jayawardene announced he will retire from the longest format of the game in August, after the two-test rubber against SA followed by two matches against Pakistan on August 6 and 18.
The 37-year-old right- hander will only be available for one-day internationals, having also retired from Twenty20 cricket in April.
"We need a player like him in the team, but he [Jayawardene] has decided to say goodbye," Mathews said at a pre-match press conference in Galle on yesterday.
"If we can send him off by winning all four tests it will be great."
Jayawardene has been the batting mainstay for SriLanka since his debut against India in 1997 and has amassed 11493 test runs over a career spanning 145 tests. With 33 hundreds and 48 fifties in his kitty, he is the joint sixth-highest run getter in test cricket along with teammate Kumar Sangakkara.
Mathews conceded it would be tough for his team to fill the shoes of Jayawardene.
The immediate task at hand for the home team is to get the better of the Proteas who won the recent one-day series 2-1 with an emphatic 82-run win in the decider last Saturday at Hambantota.
It was the first one-day series victory for SA on the island.
"They are a very balanced team and we have to be at our best to beat them, it's a huge challenge," Mathews said. - AFP
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