Jayasuriya re-invents himself again

Sanath Jayasuriya has spent much of a remarkable career re-inventing his cricket persona.

A useful slow left-arm bowler who batted a bit, he then became an explosive one-day batsman, then a fully-fledged Test opener, who bowled a bit.

Against England in the current Test series, he has become a strike bowler who barely bats at all.

The Sri Lankan captain, spearing the ball into the leg stump, has taken 12 wickets to date, eight of them coming in the innings-and-28-runs victory in the first Test in Galle. No other player on either side has bettered his total.

Muttiah Muralitharan, the best bowler in Sri Lanka's history with more than 300 Test victims, also has 12 in the series but he has been unable to match his captain's economy.

Jayasuriya's unexpected success has allowed the hosts to treat him as an all-rounder while packing the top order with seven batsmen.

But the 31-year-old, whose career climax came when he was named player of the tournament in the 1996 World Cup, would gladly exchange a few wickets for a few fours and sixes.

His last Test series was a disaster, coming away from the 2-0 away defeat by South Africa with 66 runs in six innings and prompting suggestions that he might have to drop down the order.

Things have not improved against England, with knocks of 14, 9 and 0 as his Test average dipped under 40.

His frustrations boiled over when he given out, caught behind, in the second Test off what television images showed was a bump ball.

His uncharacteristic flash of anger led to a four-match suspended ban.

A big score, however, is unlikely to be far away, the Sri Lankan having scored seven centuries and 16 fifties in 58 Tests.

Mail Cricket Editor