Amongst the Sri Lankans who have achieved that feat are Sidath Wettimuny, Duleep Mendis, Amal Silva, Mahela Jayawardene (twice), Marvan Atapattu, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara.

Diminutive right-handed opening bat Kaushal Silva is no exception. He has his sights firmly set on scoring a hundred at cricket’s most hallowed grounds when Sri Lanka take on England in the third and final Test beginning on June 9.

“I’ve played four Tests in England now, scored three fifties but no hundred yet. I’m hoping to get set and go for the big one – to a hundred in the next,” said Silva who gained a lot of confidence from his knock of 60 in the second innings of the second Test at Durham.

“As a team we’ve finished this match off on a good note. Taking that mindset into the next game is important. Also, personally, I’m disappointed about the way I got out.”

The last occasion Silva played at Lord’s in 2014 he scored twin fifties (63 and 57) but he hopes to make it into three figures this time around.

It was Silva who set the tone for the Lankan batting revival at Durham with his patient knock that occupied 145 balls. Both he and his opening partner Dimuth Karunaratne were able to dent the England new ball bowlers Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad so that they were did not pose the same to the batsmen who followed.

“An opener’s role is especially important here, because our success has knock-on effects for the team,” said Silva.

“If Dimuth and I bat a good number of overs, the ball gets old and the others find it easier. Its England’s opening bowlers who are the real wicket-taking threats, and the pressure they apply is immense,” he said.

“In the last innings Dimuth and I batted 17 overs, and that made it easier for the rest of the team. If we can play like that, with positive intent, I think we can be successful.”

Following Silva’s half-century skipper Angelo Mathews scored an attractive 80, Dinesh Chandimal a magnificent 126 and Rangana Herath a plucky half-century that enabled Sri Lanka to total 475 and avoid the ignominy of successive innings defeats.

“We all knew we had it in us to bat like that – it’s just that we weren’t able to in the first three innings,” said Silva. “Now a few individuals have scored runs. They’ve got confidence. It’s only after you’ve done it a few times that it becomes easier for you. But we need to replicate that by training with that intensity, then taking it into the next match. The first innings of the next Test is hugely important, because that will set the tone for us.”

Explaining the effects it has on a bowler when you showing positive intent, Silva said, “If you attack any bowler, they will be put on the back foot by that. If you keep leaving the ball, these bowlers are so skillful that there is still a chance of getting out.

“Rotating the strike is crucial. When we score runs there is a little pressure on them as well. Here, the difference is that the good ball is what you should expect – that is what is normal. The skills of their bowlers are great. So to counter that, we have to try and bat positively.

“The other thing is to get them to bowl three or four over spells. With any fast bowler, if you have them bowling 15-20 overs, anyone will tire and drop their performances a bit. Among the seven batsmen we have we should be able to do that. Whoever is batting well that day should be able to bat through and ensure that happens.”

It was not so long ago that Silva who began his Test career promisingly with two centuries and eight half-centuries in his first 19 Tests lost his place following a poor run of scores against India and West Indies where he managed one fifty in nine innings. He was left out of the tour to New Zealand, but fought his way back into the team for the England tour with some heavy scoring in the domestic Premier league tournament.

“I knew that though I was dropped, I could find a way back into the team by scoring runs. I had only done poorly for one series. I believed that I could get back,” said Silva. “In the domestic tournament, I scored about 600 runs in four games – including two double centuries. If you score runs, you can have a place in the team.”

Silva said he did not do anything big to his batting to earn a recall but it was all to do with the mental aspect.

“When you look at first-class cricket and domestic cricket there’s a huge difference. The main reason is that bowlers at this level deliver a lot of very good balls. There are fewer loose balls and the bowlers are all good,” said Silva.

“As a batsman what you should try is to score runs off every scoring opportunity. There’s also a skill in identifying who is not bowling as well that day and scoring off him. The biggest adjustment is mental. It’s about being patient and waiting for the bad ball, and learning to see through tough periods.”

Silva was of the opinion that it was not the bowlers who were at fault but the batsmen for Sri Lanka being 0-2 down in the three-match series.

“Our bowlers have actually done well in the last two games. There were a few mistakes, but on the whole, they’ve been very good.”

“They didn’t get support from the batsmen,” said Silva. “We can’t aim too high, but if we can get to 300 or 250 at least, we can put some pressure on them, because our bowlers are doing well.”

He compared his team’s fielding to the batting and said, “I don’t think we are a terrible fielding side. Some days we field well and others we don’t. That happens with the batting as well. Consistency is what is missing.

“Maybe lack of anticipation is an issue. But we can’t have those excuses. If a bowler is doing well on a flat wicket and a catch gets dropped, that’s really tough on them. As a policy we don’t blame cricketers for dropping catches, because we all train hard. Anyone can miss a catch.”

This is a classic example on how such cherished moment could inspire even a junior cricketer witnessing the mega show, which has been rewarding Sri Lanka’s schoolboy cricketers since 1979.

Marvan Atapattu was playing junior cricket for Ananda when his school’s first X1 captain Arjuna Ranatunga was adjudged the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1982. Atapattu happened to witness the show and Ranatunga winning the prestigious award for the second time, after first winning the title in 1980.

“I was a student at Ananda then, playing my junior cricket. I witnessed the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year awards show in 1982 and saw our school captain at that time Arjuna Ranatunga emerging out of a huge cricket ball, erected on stage, to receive the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award. That was a great inspiration to me and I thought that I too could make my family, the team and my school proud if I could win that top award one fine day. The things worked well for me to emulate that feat eight years later,” Atapattu explained his first-hand experience about the mega show.

Exactly eight years later, Atapattu achieved that dream and emulated Ranatunga’s feat. Few months after winning the prestigious Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award in 1990, Atapattu was selected to make his Test debut for Sri Lanka on November 23 the same year, against India in Chandigarh. He made his ODI debut a month later – on December 1, 1990 against India in Nagpur.

“Almost all those who have won top awards at Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year show have stepped into the national team in next to no time and many of them have established their mark as top national players,” he said.

Attapattu was concerned about the present developments in school cricket, stating that the unnecessary competitiveness has destroyed the standard of Sri Lanka’s school cricket, which was once considered to be the best in the world with a well-knit tournament structure.

He added that the unwarranted competitiveness created by coaches, school authorities and old boys has caused the deteriorating standard of school cricket. “They force cricketers of their school to win matches in all formats. They are not interested in producing quality cricketers who could dish out top class cricket but only insist on winning matches at any cost. That kills the standard of school cricket,” said Atapattu.

He said that most schools now tend to employ young coaches who could press the cricketers to win matches but are not interested in producing quality players who could step into the national team. “During our time, we counted how many former cricketers of our school are in the national team. But it’s not the case anymore,” he said.

Atapattu attributed poor standard of cricket dished out at inter-school matches at present as the main reason for deteriorating spectator interest in school cricket. When asked about the tremendous spectator interest that attracted during his era of school cricket, some two-and-a-half decades ago, Atapattu said there are several other factors, although the main reason for such development is poor standard of school cricket.

Sri Lanka are rebuilding following the retirement of their batting greats, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, within the space of a year.

The West Indies, already hit by the reluctance of senior pros like Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo to play Test cricket, faced further turmoil when coach Phil Simmons was stood down for the tour for speaking out against his board’s selection policies.

Former fast bowler and selector Eldine Baptiste, who will serve as interim coach for the tour, will try to ease newly-appointed Test captain Jason Holder into the role.

Holder, a 23-year-old all-rounder who has played just eight Tests, was a surprise choice to replace the seasoned Denesh Ramdin as captain.

“We have a very young team and a young captain,” Baptiste said. “My job is to keep the team focused for the Test matches.”

The West Indies are searching for their maiden Test win on Sri Lankan soil, where they have played nine matches since 1993 — losing five and drawing the other four.

Both teams will look to bounce back after a lacklustre year.

The West Indians lost to South Africa and Australia, while the home series against England was drawn 1-1.

Angelo Mathews’ Sri Lanka crashed to a 2-0 series defeat in New Zealand and lost home series to Pakistan and India by identical 2-1 margins.

Like their rivals, Sri Lanka too have an interim coach in Jerome Jayaratne, who was given charge of the team after Marvan Atapattu resigned in the wake of the defeat against India.

Jayaratne, who did not play international cricket but made his mark as head of the Sri Lankan board’s coaching department, has already described Mathews’ boys as the “worst fielding side in Asia”.

He refused to take victory for granted against the young touring side.

“I would like to believe that we have a better chance of getting back to winning ways, but I definitely won’t underestimate them,” he said.

Only two players from either side have played more than 50 Tests — Mathews and Rangana Herath for Sri Lanka and batsman Marlon Samuels and Ramdin for the West Indies.

Herath, the 37-year-old left-arm spinner, could prove to be the difference when the first Test starts at the picturesque Galle International Stadium, a venue that traditionally favours spin.

Herath took seven for 48 against India in August, helping Sri Lanka bounce back to win that Test by 63 runs.

In June Pakistani spin twins Yasir Shar and Zulfiqar Babar combined to grab 13 wickets between them as Sri Lanka suffered a 10-wicket defeat at the same venue.

In the absence of star spinner Sunil Narine, who was not picked for the Tests, the West Indies will rely on leg-break bowler Devendra Bishoo, who has claimed 50 wickets in 13 Tests so far.

Sri Lanka’s batting in the absence of Jayawardene and Sangakkara will revolve around skipper Mathews, who hit three centuries in the home Tests against Pakistan and India.

Sri Lanka (from) – Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirmanne, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Rangana Herath, Dhammika Prasad, Kusal Perera, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep, Tharindu Kaushal, Suranga Lakmal, Dilruwan Perera, Milinda Siriwardena, Kusal Mendis.

West Indies (from) – Jason Holder (capt), Kraig Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warric