Jayasuriya bids adieu to international cricket

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya has said that he will retire from all forms of international cricket after the first one-day match of their England tour later this month. The 41-year-old all-rounder, who quit test cricket in 2007, made the announcement after Sri Lanka Cricket recalled him for the T20 and one-day squads to face England. [caption id=“attachment_23192” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Veteran batsman Jayasuriya said he will quit international cricket midway through the upcoming limited-over series against England. AP/PTI”]  [/caption] “I called you here to inform (you of) my retirement from all forms of (international) cricket after 20 years of play,” Jayasuriya told reporters in Colombo. “I’ll retire after playing a one-day and a T20 game,” he said. Sri Lanka face England in a Twenty20 match on June 25 before the first one-dayer at the Oval three days later. “I will continue to play league matches and domestic cricket,” he told Reuters when asked if he would quit all form of cricket. Jayasuriya, who helped Sri Lanka to their only World Cup triumph in 1996, remains the island nation’s highest run scorer in one-day internationals with 13,428 runs from 444 matches. He is the second highest scorer and the ninth highest wicket-taker in the limited-over game. He has scored 6,973 runs in 110 test matches, and captured 98 wickets. He was left out of Sri Lanka’s World Cup team early this year due to poor performance. Jayasuriya was elected as a member of parliament last year for Sri Lanka’s ruling party. “I will serve people in my electorate in future and also I will work for the betterment of cricket,” he said. Reuters