Prabath Jayasuriya is threatening to usurp some long-standing Test records, but his real test lies away from home, writes Abhishek Mukherjee.
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In the summer of 2022, Australia toured Sri Lanka, then amidst political turmoil and economic crisis. For the first Test, the hosts drafted in a 32-year-old uncapped leg-spinner called Jeffrey Vandersay. It did not work out: bowled out in 22.5 overs in the second innings, Sri Lanka lost by ten wickets. Since his ten expensive overs, Vandersay has not played Test cricket again.
Sri Lanka needed to win the second Test match. For that, they brought in in another uncapped spinner – nearly two years younger than Vandersay but a tricenarian nevertheless.
Australia won the all-important toss, but it did not matter. On either side of a Dinesh Chandimal double ton, debutant Prabath Jayasuriya claimed 6-118 and 6-59 to rout Australia – the best and third-best innings figures for Sri Lanka; the fourth-best match figures by a Test debutant and the best since 1987/88; the best by anyone over 29 on Test debut.
Yet, these records barely registered. When Jayasuriya was bringing down Australia on the second day, a large protesting group had been claiming Galle Fort, not too far away from the stadium. Cricket was not the most important thing in the city or even the country.
Pakistan came over the week after. In the first Test, Sri Lanka set 342 and would probably have won had the Laws permitted Jayasuriya to bowl from both ends. As things turned out, he followed his first-innings five-wicket haul with four scalps. Unfortunately, his teammates shared only two between them, none of them Abdullah Shafique, who sealed the game with a 524-minute 160 not out.
Jayasuriya took eight more wickets to seal the next Test match. After three appearances, his tally stood at 29 wickets at 20.37, at par with Charlie ‘Terror’ Turner and behind only Narendra Hirwani, who had a four-wicket headstart over Jayasuriya on debut.
In less than a month’s time Prabath went from being the second-most famous Sri Lankan left-arm spinner called Jayasuriya to a cricket statisticians’ delight.
In 2021, Sri Lanka had thrashed West Indies 2-0 at home, but were humbled by the same margin in India. If the 1-0 win in Bangladesh had kept Sri Lanka’s hopes for the World Test Championship final afloat, the triumphs against Australia and Pakistan had put them on course.
By the time Sri Lanka toured New Zealand in March 2023, they were in with a realistic chance of a berth in a final. Requiring to win both Test matches, they were thwarted by a Kane Williamson masterpiece in the first innings before falling apart in the second.
Jayasuriya managed only four wickets at 56 apiece from 27 overs across two Tests – but then, barring Muttiah Muralidaran, Sri Lankan spinners have seldom done well in New Zealand. Rangana Herath averaged 64 there and Dilruwan Perera 79.50.
He did have enough of a start to ensure his average did not go past 24.69, but the chastening experience pushed him to joint 15th on the wickets charts after five games.
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Back to the familiarity of Sri Lankan conditions, however, Jayasuriya bounced back with 17 wickets in two Test matches against Ireland. Sri Lanka lost to Pakistan at home, but Jayasuriya still eeked out nine wickets, albeit at 43.88 apiece. Eight more against Afghanistan in early 2024 took his tally to 67 wickets from 10 Test matches.
Among Sri Lankans, no one else had even 48 after their 10th match. In fact, Jayasuriya has more wickets from his first 10 Tests than any Sri Lankan had after 14.
In all Test cricket, only Tom Richardson (71) and Turner (69) have had more wickets at this stage of their careers, and both were done playing by 1898. Both men had ordinary 11th Tests, after which their career tally stood at 72 scalps apiece. Sri Lanka next play Test cricket in March, in Bangladesh, where Jayasuriya may find the wickets to his liking. Six wickets there will get him the world record.
Of course, that will not help him improve his record outside Asia. For that, he will have to wait until this year’s tours of England and South Africa. Neither country is a spinners’ haven, but Sri Lankan spinners have had success there. Muralidaran’s 48 wickets in England came at 19.20, but South Africa makes even better reading. Since the start of 2010 – in other words, since Muralidaran – Sri Lankan spinners have averaged 36.82 in the country, the best for any touring side. They would particularly want a game in Durban, where they average 19.06 over this period, and both Herath and Lasith Embuldeniya have five-wicket hauls.
The two ‘SENA’ trips will determine whether Jayasuriya’s legacy. By then, he should also have joined the exclusive club of cricketers to take a hundred Test wickets despite debuting after thirty.
