FOR Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara’s Public Appeal

My Thanks to Joe Paiva in Adelaide for this important reference to Sanga;s recent appeal …. one that is in step with the bold move he made in 2011 with his wife Yehali when they chose to visit st. Patrick’s College in what wasa reconciliatory political gesture

Perchance as it happens today, I was listening to the commentaries on the ODI match between England and South Africa taking place at yesterday -where one of the illustrious batch of commentators was Kumar Sangakkara.

For those who are not familiar with Kumar’s background, note that

Kumar is the son of Kshema and Kumari Sangakkara
That his father is a Kandyan with ancestral roots in a lineage originating from a Siamese(?) religious entourage that restored the upasampada in the Kingdom of Kandy in the mid/late eighteenth century
That his parents purchased “Engeltina Cottage” from the Hannadige Jeronis Pieris family at some point in the late 20th century and restored it tastefully … enabling me to visit them and capture its ambience in the year 2012.

That Kumar’s education at Trinity College and his training in cricket saw him enter the ranks of Sri Lankan cricket and perform in consistent and even magical fashion in the years 1999-2012 … so much so that he “won the top prize at 2012’s ICC awards, in addition to the award for Test Cricketer of the Year and the People’s Choice award for the second year running. Later that year he confirmed himself among batting’s modern greats, by becoming the equal fastest man to 10,000 Test runs alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, with the biggest Test crowd Sri Lanka had ever played for in audience, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground” (details from https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/kumar-sangakkara-50710).
Moreover, his acumen and personal capacities matched his cricketing prowess in ways that saw him invited to present the annual COWDREY LECTURE sponsored by the MCC at the Lords Cricket ground in 2013: see ………. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PII5DwqWA_4 …. … & ….. thuppahis.com/2011/07/13/kumar-sangakkara’s-sentiments-as-an-ecumenical-asokan-lankan/