Jayewardene and Sangakkara set to quit:

Lords of Lankan cricket for the final time at Lord’s

Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting from England

It will be a poignant moment for the lords of Sri Lanka cricket, Mahela Jaywardene and Kumar Sangakkkara when they walk out for the last time at the holy land of cricket Lord’s when the First of Two Test matches against England begins on June 12. It is the dream of every cricketer to play on this hallowed ground. England calls Lord’s the home of cricket and it is also called the Mecca of cricket.

Many records have been set on this ground. Many an exciting match has been played and individual breath taking centuries and double centuries made for posterity.

Jayewardene and Sangakkara have served Sri Lanka cricket, not only as players but also as ambassadors with great dignity and this being their last fling on the hallowed turf will be determined to make it a memorable farewell.

Speaking to BBC Jayewardene and Sangakkara said that this could be their final outing at Lord’s. They said that their careers are still not over, but probably the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year could be the end of their one-day flings.

Sangakkara told BBC: ‘Get through the World Cup and that should be it for the one-dayers. If we can make an impact for the team, it will be even better.

‘You set yourself targets. But you are also very thankful when you get through a tour without injury, and you’re still performing well.

Jayewardene said: ‘It comes to a stage in our careers where we can’t plan too far ahead. We take a few months at a time, a tour at a time.

Are we performing? Are we satisfied? Are we enjoying it? We will keep asking those questions ourselves.

‘We’ll make the right decisions, as we have always made, as we did with Twenty20 cricket earlier this year. We definitely know there is not that long to go for us. That is for sure.

‘It’s likely to be our last time at Lord. We always look forward to the challenge in England and the atmosphere is great. With good, honest effort, we will see what we can accomplish.

‘The last few times we’ve been here we’ve played some really good cricket and had our fair share of success and we’re looking to improve on that’ concluded Jayewardene.

Jayewardene led Sri Lanka to the finals in the World Cup in the West Indies and the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Sangakkara led the country in the World Cup final in India. But sadly both outings without success.

Jayewardene will be remembered for his majestic century in the final against India. It was an eye catching innings which came in for praise from all cricketing greats.