EXCLUSIVE Kumar Sangakkara scored 28,000 runs for Sri Lanka - now he's playing with welders and hot-tub salesmen in Dorset and loving the best teas in the country Kumar Sangakkara played cricket for a third-division village team in Dorset He cemented his place as one of the greats of the game in a 15-year career Sangakkara is also a big fan of his new team's spread during the tea breaks By Henry Clark Published: 22:30, 20 August 2024 | Updated: 22:30, 20 August 2024 e-mail View comments Shillingstone is your typical sleepy village in north Dorset, a quiet haven situated on the River Stour on the periphery of the Blandford Forest. But this summer, the local cricket team have caused quite a stir after enticing a familiar face out of retirement. He’s not your average village cricketer, it’s fair to say.
Not someone who has spent their life making time for playing cricket around a day job as a delivery driver, welder or hot-tub salesman, like his new team-mates. Instead, across a 15-year career, Kumar Sangakkara cemented his place as one of the greats of the game. The silky Sri Lankan left-hander toppled the most fearsome fast bowlers and canniest spinners of his generation to score the second-most runs in international cricket history.
38 Test hundreds were notched all over the world, from Lahore to Lord’s. Legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara played for Shillingstone Cricket Club Sangakkara cemented himself as one of the greats of the game in a dazzling 15-year career He turned out for Shillingstone, who play in the third division of the Dorset Cricket League Turning out for Shillingstone Cricket Club in division three of the Dorset Cricket League this summer, then, has been an entirely new experience altogether. The surroundings for his run-scoring are certainly different.
Sangakkara's home ground is the council-owned recreation ground in the village, just a few miles from where he lives, affectionately known as ‘The Rec’, which is also used by the local football and tennis clubs. The spectators are usually just a handful of locals who pop by while on their Saturday afternoon stroll – though that has changed when Sangakkara is in town, with fans travelling from all over to catch a glimpse of him playing. ‘It's just to do with my friends,’ Sangakkara told Mail Sport.
‘I have quite a few friends I've known for quite a long time who live near Shillingstone, around the area where my kids go to school. ‘So whenever they were short, they were always trying to say, “You’ve got to come and play, you’ve got to come and play”. I said yes and I went and played a few games.
’ Seven games, to be exact, squeezed in around coaching duties in the IPL and broadcasting commitments. Sangakkara, after all, remains one of the most highly sought-after minds in the game after his run-scoring exploits and captaining some of the great Sri Lanka teams of the modern era. Since retiring in 2015, he has also served a term as MCC president.
But the joy is palpable in Sangakkara’s voice when he it comes to speaking about Shillingstone. Cricket fans have travelled from all over just to watch Sangakkara in action for Shillingstone The Sri Lankan legend was tempted to play by some of his friends who live in the local area ‘I think it's not about the cricket, it's mostly about the fellowship,’ he says. ‘It's wonderful to see how the game is embraced in the UK at all ages and for anyone at any level, be it village or international level.
‘You have 18 year olds playing alongside 50 year olds and they all have this incredible connection to the game. An incredible love and appreciation for it. ‘Great barbecues, too.
You go to the pub in the evening, you have nonsensical banter out in the middle. It's just a case of people just enjoying their summer.’ Unsurprisingly, he has scored plenty of runs.
359 of them at an average of more than 51. Sangakkara’s one century came against Abbotsbury at the end of June, where he went on to make 126 from only 95 deliveries in a knock that included 15 fours and three sixes. He was a mainstay at No 3 for Sri Lanka, but Sangakkara usually bats five for Shillingstone.
Clearly international success counts for very little at village level. ‘I’m protected against the new ball,’ he jokes. Sangakarra has averaged over 51 from the 359 runs he has scored for Shillingstone Sangakkara was known best for his supreme glovework behind the stumps, but has also turned his arm over, collecting 15 wickets with his miserly off-spin.
‘They're fighting for promotion and they are competitive in the spirit and the nature they play, of course they want to win,’ he said. ‘But the way they go about is the beauty of it. It's brilliant to see that they think about the good of the game.
‘They think about how they can make it fun. They think about hosting the opposition and giving them a really good experience. They think about what we give them for tea, do we put on a barbecue at the end of it.
‘All of it to just create this fun atmosphere for everyone to play and that's a great sign of respect for the game and the opposition.’ Sangakkara has been a hit with the locals and opposition too. Sangakkara blasted 126 from only 95 deliveries in what was his only century for Shillingstone The 46-year-old is a fan of the post-match barbecues with his teammates and the opposition ‘It’s been an honour and a privilege,’ Chris Cole, Shillingstone's captain, told Mail Sport.
‘I’d say I’ve been his captain but when it’s on the field we leave him to decide who goes where – he’s got a much better understanding of the game than anyone in our team! ‘The key thing for us is the opposition have been incredible in that every team we’ve played have welcomed him with open arms and enjoyed the fact they got to compete with him. ‘The amount of times we’re walking around the boundary, usually after I’ve got out cheaply, and he’s batting and you kind of have to pinch yourself and say “Is Kumar Sangakkara really playing for my village club?’. It’s absolutely mad.
’ Sangakkara hasn’t been afraid to get his hands dirty, either. He was snapped sitting on the roller helping to prepare the pitch earlier this summer. Such is the renewed interest in the Shillingstone, who have won promotion and need just a few more points to secure the league title, that the club now plan to start a second men’s team and restart their junior programme for 2025.
But there is only one question on the lips of fellow amateur cricketers: how does Sangakkara rate the teas at Shillingstone? ‘Pretty good actually! Good cakes, good pastries, good sausage rolls, tea and coffee, the occasional burger and hot dog. I think Shillingstone ranks about the best.’ Sangakkara has been a big fan of the spreads put on by Shillingstone during tea breaks Although he's not captain, Sangakkara has been given free rein to decide the field positions ______ It has been more than two decades since Sangakkara’s first Test tour of these shores in 2002.
By the end of his career, he had scored 862 Test runs in England at an average of a touch over 41, including two centuries. Perhaps the most memorable of which came at Lord’s in 2014, when he struck 147 to write his name onto the honours board in his final match at the home of cricket. Though his record was impressive, Sangakkara is all too aware of the challenge awaiting Sri Lanka’s batsmen in their three-Test tour, which begins Wednesday at Old Trafford.
It took him nine innings to register his first century in England; a six-and-a-half hour 119 during a rain disrupted Test at the Rose Bowl in 2011. ‘It was quite difficult for me understanding what the Dukes ball did, how it reacted, how the pitchers played, the cold weather,’ he explains. ‘Then I was told as a batter to play straight, which was the worst advice I ever got and that really made life harder.
If you want to play the ball late, you can't then play it straight. You've got to be able to then work through how you do that. Sangakkara first toured English shores with his Sri Lankan squad back in 2002 The former wicketkeeper knows Sri Lanka's current crop face a tough task against England ‘As a young player coming in, it's not an easy thing to do.
It's a lot of experimenting, a lot of learning on the go. It's always tough, but that's the beauty of coming and playing in England. Few are holding out much hope of a series win for this Sri Lanka side.
They haven’t played a Test match since beating Bangladesh in early April and were beaten handsomely in just over three days by a second-string England Lions team in their only warm-up match at New Road last week. Sangakkara, who was part of Sri Lanka's only series win in England in 2014, insists the current crop of players must approach the series with the aim of pulling off an almighty upset. ‘A successful series is, of course, winning it.
That's number one and that's exactly what you have to come prepared to do,' he said. ‘Wanting to win is very different from how you win it and that's the key question for the Sri Lankan side. The way England play, they do give opposition opportunities to come back into games and, as we've seen, win games.
‘If Sri Lanka bats first, I think it's really important they look at getting 300 as a minimum and if they can get into that range and bowl well, they'll always have an opportunity.’ Share or comment on this article: Kumar Sangakkara scored 28,000 runs for Sri Lanka - now he's playing with welders and hot-tub salesmen in Dorset and loving the best teas in the country e-mail Add comment.
