Full name Sanath Teran JayasuriyaBorn June 30, 1969, Matara
Current age 40 years 221 days
Major teams Sri Lanka, Asia XI, Asia XI, Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, Colombo Cricket Club, Dolphins, Marylebone Cricket Club, Mumbai Indians, Ruhuna, Somerset
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox
One of the world's most uncompromising strikers of the ball, Jayasuriya found belated fame as a pinch-hitter at the 1996 World Cup, and then demonstrated that he was also capable of massive scoring in Tests, eventually becoming Sri Lanka's highest Test run-scorer. He remains dizzily dangerous, especially on the subcontinent's slower, less bouncy surfaces. Short in stature and powerfully built, he cuts and pulls with awesome power, and his brutal bat-wielding is at odds with his shy, gentle nature. Wised-up opponents have learned to set traps in the gully and at third man to stem the flow of runs, but on song he can be virtually unstoppable, capable of scoring freely on both sides of the wicket.
He retired in 2006, only to almost immediately retract his decision. After behind-the-scenes machinations which hinted at internal power struggles between board and coach, he was shoehorned into the squad for the Test series in England but did not play. He bounced back in typical form, however, in the one-day series that followed, showing he has a few more miles left on the clock.
At the age of 38, Jayasuriya scored 467 runs during the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies and was the oldest player in the World Twenty20 that followed in South Africa. He called time on his Test career during the first Test against England in Kandy in 2007-08, and bowed out with a cracking 78 in his final innings. His one-day career was all but over when he was omitted for the ODIs in the West Indies in 2008. However, a stirring performance in the IPL - finishing the third-highest run-getter with 514 runs - prompted his country's sports minister to intervene in his selection for the Asia Cup. He ultimately shaped Sri Lanka's title victory with a blistering hundred under pressure. In January 2009, during the first ODI against India, he became the second man to cross 13,000 ODI runs, and at 39 years and 212 days the oldest man to score an ODI century
Full name Warushavithana Upul TharangaBorn February 2, 1985, Balapitiya
Current age 25 years 4 days
Major teams Sri Lanka, Asia XI, Nondescripts Cricket Club, Ruhuna, Singha Sports Club, Sri Lanka Board XI
Batting style Left-hand bat
Fielding position Occasional wicketkeeper
Upul Tharanga's call-up to the national one-day squad in July 2005 brightened a year marred by the Asian tsunami, which washed away his family home in Ambalangoda, a fishing town on the west coast. From an early age he was tipped for the big time, playing Premier League cricket for Singha CC at the age of 15 and passing seamlessly and successfully through the Sri Lanka under-15, under-17 and under-19 development squads. He first really caught the eye during the under-19 World Cup in 2004 when he cracked 117 against South Africa and then 61 in 42 balls against India in the next game. Then, after a successful tour with the under-19 team to Pakistan, during which he scored half-centuries in each of the two Tests and two one-day matches, the Sri Lankan board sent him to play league cricket in Essex, where he starred for Loughton Cricket Club. He soon graduated to the A team and after accomplished performances against West Indies A earlier he was selected for the national squad a week later. However, it was on the 2006 tour of England that he really began to develop, especially in the one-day game, with an outstanding century at Lord's in the first match of Sri Lanka's 5-0 whitewash. Back-to-back centuries followed in the Champions Trophy and he was formed a destructive partnership with Sanath Jayasuriya without having to compromise his natural flair. He is also a skillful wicketkeeper.
