To represent your country in Test matches is an achievement. And When you play 100 Test matches for your country, it shows you have got the right temperament to play the highest form of the game. And Angelo Mathews became only the fourth Sri Lankan player after Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jaywardene and Kumar Sangakara in the history of Sri Lanka cricket to achieve that feat when he walked out today to bat to play his 100th Test match against Pakistan at Galle.
Angie as he is fondly called by his teammates made his debut in 2009 and was instantly identified as someone who would make it big because of the all round talent he had. He made his mark in his very first match against Pakistan by scoring a handy 42 and 27 in the two innings of a low scoring game and picking up the key wicket of Younis Khan in both innings.
Sri Lanka’s two Legends Jaywardene retired in 2014 and Sangakara in 2015 and it was up to Mathews to take Sri Lanka cricket forward. He had his best years in Test cricket in 2014 when as captain he scored two consecutive hundreds against England at Lords and Leeds and made Sri Lanka win a memorable series against the English.
Dust bowl wickets
He might have scored only 13 Test hundreds but having an average of 45 is no mean feat mainly playing at dust bowl wickets in Sri Lanka. He scored 200 against Zimbabwe batting 468 balls and his recent 199 against Bangladesh gave Sri Lanka a Test series win.
When you look back at his stats, one wonders why Mathews could not become an all time great of Sri Lanka cricket like Jaywardene and Sangakara, only he would be able to answer this question as he had set such high standards from his debut.
