Kumar Sangakkara has opened up on his foray into village cricket in Dorset after he appeared for Shillingstone CC in the third Division in Dorset.
The Sri Lanka legend turned heads when he turned out for Shillingstone earlier this month. Sangakkara retired from international cricket in 2015, but batted at five for Shillingstone against Kingston Lacy CC, scoring 68 off 50 balls before he was bowled by John Burns. He also took on a role with the ball, sending down seven overs and finishing with figures of 1-32.
Sangakkara, who has 12,400 Test runs and made 594 appearances for Sri Lanka across formats, has opened up on his recent experience of playing village cricket on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast. "I've spent a couple of weekends playing for Shillingstone, and it was great fun," said Sangakkara. "Quite a few of my friends play for Shillingstone. I live next to there in Manston, and since I've become a Manston local I've joined in things in the community. That's the beauty of cricket in the UK, it's played at all ages, it's someone's lifeblood almost in terms of sport. It has a great community feel, great sense of fellowship.
"There is that competitive spirit and also it's about everyone being involved together in something that's really unique to this country in terms of how it's played. It's played in a competitive environment, there's the prospect of promotion to a higher league, there's the personal pride the players take in their abilities and it's about having a lot of fun... You meet so many different people but the one thing they all have in common is they absolutely love their cricket and they participate in loading the pitch, cutting the grass, making sure that it's really well organised.
"Coming from my cricketing background, it's actually really humbling but also fantastic to be part of, in the little that I do participate in, playing with my friends, it's unique, it's absolutely enjoyable and I've loved it."
Division Three, where Shillingstone play, is effectively the fifth tier of recreational cricket in the Dorset Cricket League. Shillingstone CC are currently in second place in the league. While Sangakkara has 63 international centuries to his name, he revealed he was put down the order for Shillingstone.
"I bat at No.5 because I'm thoroughly unproven at this level," said Sangakkara jokingly. "Or they're protecting me from the new ball... It was very straightforward, you're batting at five, you're there.
"Everyone tries their best. They play to win, so I'm expected to score runs, but if I don't, if I do get out the opposition have a field day and also my teammates. There's great banter on the field. It's quite hilarious playing when they're talking to each other. It's great. And they're all cricket tragics in a way. They watch the sport, they play, but there's also something very innocent about it in the sense of joy that they play with.
"I think it raises their competitive nature because they want to get me out and it's great to see them really try. And I did get out, and you're walking off and you see it being celebrated, it's brilliant."
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