Legend Sangakkara to retire from first class cricket

Sri Lankan cricketing legend Kumar Sangakkara said Monday he will retire from first-class cricket at the end of the present English county championship season in September.

The 39-year-old fifth in the list of all-time Test run scorers averaging more than 57 runs in 134 Tests, making 11 double centuries is still in prime form having scored two centuries for Surrey in their match with Middlesex which finished on Monday.

However, Sangakkara also one of the all-time great limited overs batsmen and a member of the Sri Lanka side that reached both the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals (losing to Australia and India respectively) said he could sense the time was right to retire.

“You try to fight the inevitable but you need to get out while you’re ahead,” Sangakkara, who was a pivotal member of the Sri Lanka team that lifted the 2014 World Twenty20 trophy and lost in both the 2009 and 2012 finals, told the BBC.

“It’s the last time I’ll play a four-day game here. I’ll be 40 in a few months, this is about the end of my time in county cricket.”

Sangakkara, who formed a swashbuckling partnership on many occasions with fellow Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene, said he didn’t want to make the error of overstaying his welcome.

“The biggest mistake that sometimes you can make is that you think you’re better than you really are,” he said.

“Cricketers, or any sort of sportsperson, have an expiry date and you need to walk away.

“I have been very lucky to play for as long as I did so but there’s a lot more life to be lived away from the game.” AFP

English county scores

on Monday: First Division

* At Old Trafford: Lancashire (10pts) drew with Yorkshire (9pts)

Yorkshire 448-8 dec (J Leaning 118, J Brooks 109 no, G Ballance 74, T Bailey 4-116) & 177-1 (P Handscomb 101 no, A Lees 62 no) v Lancashire 432 (S Chanderpaul 106, R McLaren 84, S C Kerrigan 59)

* At Lord’s: Middlesex (13pts) drew with Surrey (11pts)

Surrey 313 (K Sangakkara 114, D Sibley 54, J Franklin 4-40) & 339 (K Sangakkara 120, B Foakes 67 no, S Curran 51, T Roland-Jones 4-76) v Middlesex 411 (D Malan 115, J Franklin 112, S Eskinazi 67, S Meaker 4-92) & 92-2

* At Taunton: Somerset (8pts) drew with Warwickshire (12pts)

Warwickshire 413 (J Trott 175, T Ambrose 63, R Clarke 57) v Somerset 230 (M Trescothick 106, P Trego 52, G Thornton 4-34) & 86-1

Second Division (second day of four)

* At Hove

Durham 287 (P Coughlin 73, R Pringle 60, J Archer 5-76) v Sussex 452-4 (L Wells 258, S van Zyl 141 no)

* At Derby: Worcestershire (24pts) beat Derbyshire (5pts) by an innings and 42 runs

Derbyshire 275 (L Reece 54, A Hughes 53, J Leach 4-50) & 98 (J Leach 5-32) v Worcestershire 415-9 dec (B D’Oliveira 150, D Mitchell 120, S Thakor 4-45, B Mendis 4-98)

* At the SWALEC Stadium: Glamorgan (7pts) drew with Nottinghamshire (12pts)

Nottinghamshire 448 (M Wessels 120, J Libby 109, C Read 88, B Hutton 61, T van der Gugten 5-101) v Glamorgan 187 (A Donald 53) & 420-5 (C Ingram 155 no, C Cooke 113 no)

* At Grace Road: Leicestershire (13pts) drew with Kent (13pts)

Leicestershire 420 (C Ackermann 89, C McKay 66) & 61-1 dec v Kent 462-9 dec (D Stevens 100, A Rouse 60, M Coles 56 no, J Tredwell 55, D Klein 4-108)