Sri Lankan strokemaker, stumper, lover-fighter and all-round class-monger Kumar Sangakkara tackles the biggest test of his life. 

Describe yourself in one word
Focused

Any words or phrases you overuse?
“Fantastic” – I like that word, maybe too much

What is your most marked characteristic?
I’m very untidy

If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I’d like to have won the World Cup

What is your idea of happiness?
Family

Who would you like to play you in a film of your life?
Robert De Niro

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Pettiness

Which person do you most admire and why?
Nelson Mandela, because he was able to unite a divided country

What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
A pirate

What has been your biggest disappointment?
Not winning a World Cup!

What’s your favourite joke?
Eddie Murphy’s ‘Bear & Rabbit Joke’ from Delirious: A rabbit walks up to a bear sitting next to a tree. The bear asks the rabbit, ‘Excuse me, do you have a problem with shit being on your fur?’ The rabbit replies: ‘No, not at all’. So the bear picks up the rabbit, and wipes his arse with him [Eh? – Ed]

Most important lesson life has taught you?
To be kind and to be generous

What becomes of the broken hearted?
Not sure, but time heals

What’s wrong with the world?
Politics and war

In which era would you most like to have lived?
The 1960s because of the music

If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
An eagle, because I’d fly

What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?
My children

Who is your favourite fictional hero?
Superman because he wears his underpants on the outside

Most overrated virtue?
I’m not too sure on this one really…

What if God was one of us?
Ah, the Alanis Morissette song! [Joan Osborne, but same ball park – Ed] Well, I think he’s supposed to be? Just a… [ forgets the words]

What came first, the chicken or the egg?
I always think neither – it was a completely different life-form that came first and then made up the chicken and the egg separately.