Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara signs for Surrey

Saturday, 17 January 2015 04:34 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Likely to be available for much of the county season ‘It’s been an amazing privilege to play the game’: Sangakkara The Guardian.com: Surrey have signed the former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara. The 37-year-old is currently top of the ICC’s Test batting rankings and sits fifth on the all-time run-scorer’s list with 12,203 in the format. Having announced his intention to retire from one-day international cricket after this year’s World Cup, he is likely to be available for much of the county season, though his precise dates are yet to be finalised.

Alec Stewart, the Surrey CCC director of cricket, said: “We’re delighted that Kumar has agreed to join us. He is the number one Test batsman in the world but it’s the special character that he has which is as important to us. “He is a five-star player and five-star person and that is important because he will be working with our young home-grown players as they become serious cricketers at this level. He has worked a lot with our coach Graham Ford, when he was in charge of Sri Lanka, and we are both very happy to reach this stage.” Sangakkara has previously represented Warwickshire and had a two-game stint with Durham last season, signing off with 159.