Rangana Herath to retire after first Test against England at Galle

The Galle international stadium remains close to Herath’s heart as he made his Test debut here in 1999

Veteran Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath will be hanging up his boots after the first Test against England, beginning from November 6 in Galle. The left-armer has already informed the selectors that he won’t be playing the entire 3-match series.

The Galle international stadium remains close to Herath’s heart as he made his Test debut here in 1999. Since then, he represented Sri Lanka in 92 Test matches and claimed 430 wickets at an average of 27.95. He also needs just one wicket more to join Muttiah Muralitharan in having taken 100 wickets at this ground.

It was the same venue where he had scalped 10 wickets in a Test against Pakistan in 2009, after having been suddenly called up to the Test side while he was playing league cricket in England.

Considered as one of the remarkable spinners of Sri Lanka, Herath is the 10th most successful Test bowler in history with 430 wickets. Surprisingly, 36 of those dismissals came after he had turned 31, as he struggled to maintain a place in the Test side in the first decade of his career.

No other bowler has ever claimed as many as 230 wickets after turning 35. If he manages to pick a five-for in his farewell match, he could move up to seventh on the all-time list, surpassing Richard Hadlee (431 wickets), Stuart Broad (433) and Kapil Dev (434).

Herath’s adieu is expected to affect the Lankan Test side with a few options left. Offspinner Dilruwan Perera likely to replace him as leader of the spin attack for the remainder of the England series, who will assist the other spinners – Akila Dananjaya, left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan, and left-arm orthodox bowler Malinda Pushpakumara.