Age doesn't concern Sri Lanka master-blaster by AFP

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Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 9th March 2007

 

He's 37-years-old, is the only surviving member of the 1996 World Cup-winning squad, and still opens the batting as well as turning over his slow left-armers.

 

Sanath Jayasauriya has been at the front-line for 17 years amassing 11,538 runs, 23 centuries and picking up 285 wickets in his 379 matches. But there's no sign yet of a dimming of the light.

 

"I'm still enjoying my game and I'm playing really good cricket and the team is playing really good cricket," said Jayasuriya, a former captain.

 

"We have come to the West Indies in good form. I know I have a responsibility with both the bat and the ball and I will be trying my best to perform for the team."

 

The team boasts a legion of dashing players most of whom are considerably younger that senior citizen Jayasuriya.

 

His opening partner Upul Tharanga, a fellow left-hander, was only 11 when Sri Lanka were world champions but has formed an impressive link-up with the veteran who believes another cup triumph can help bring happiness to his troubled island home.

 

"I'm not thinking big runs at the moment or a big bag of wickets. I'm thinking team and how I can lift the hopes and aspirations of the people back home," Jayasuriya said.

 

"I remember how great a feeling it was back in 1996 when we won, and how the people back home reacted. We have some wonderful memories and we played very well and I was delighted with the way I played. I would love to do that again."

 

Jayasuriya revolutionised batting at the 1996 tournament, taking advantage of early fielding restrictions to smash boundary after boundary over the top of a host of bewildered strike bowlers.

 

"My batting represents my natural game. From the time I was a little boy, I always played my natural game and it was always to attack," he explained.

 

"It is always when I get set, to remain positive and always try to go through to the end of the innings.

 

"Sometimes I go for quick runs and other times I go slowly and look to build a long innings. It all depends on the state of the game and I adjust to what the team requires. If I get set I like to take on the bowlers."

 

Like many here, Jayasuriya won't be tempted into making predictions of a winner at the end of the marathon seven-week tournament.

 

"Most of the teams are in with a very good chance," he told reporters here. "In this World Cup you cannot take anyone lightly. You have to play really, really good cricket if you want to win the cup."

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)