GALLE, Sri Lanka // Hosts Sri Lanka hope to give retiring former captain Mahela Jayawardene a winning farewell when they take on Pakistan for a sixth Test series in as many years from Wednesday.
The elegant right-hander, sixth in the all-time scorers’ list with 11,671 runs in 147 Tests since his debut in 1997, is due to quit the longer format after the series.
Jayawardene, 37, who retired from Twenty20 internationals after Sri Lanka’s title-winning campaign in the World T20 in April, still hopes to compete in next year’s one-day World Cup Down Under.
Read more: Mahela Jayawardene climbs to unbeaten 140 on Day 1 for Sri Lanka
But he will be remembered most for his exploits in Test cricket, where he averages a commendable 50.09 – with a monumental 374 against South Africa in 2006, the best of his 34 centuries.
Jayawardene starts the two-Test series against Pakistan just six runs ahead of his close friend and long-time team-mate Kumar Sangakkara’s tally of 11,665 runs as Sri Lanka’s leading Test batsman.
Thoughtful Sri Lankan cricket officials picked Jayawardene’s two favourite venues, the Galle International Stadium and the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo, for what will almost certainly be an emotional farewell.
Jayawardene’s 2,297 runs in 22 Tests in Galle and 2,863 runs in 26 matches at the SSC – which replaced the originally chosen P. Sara Oval for his final appearance -- are the most by any batsman at a single ground.
Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews, while admitting Jayawardene’s retirement will “leave a big hole to fill”, hoped the occasion will not distract his team from the goals ahead.
“We need to win the series both for him as well as the future of Sri Lankan cricket,” Mathews said. “The task ahead is clear in our minds.”
Sri Lanka’s winning streak this year, when they won the Asia Cup one-day tournament, the World Twenty20 and the Test series in England, was broken by the 1-0 Test loss to South Africa at home last month.
The Proteas, led for the first time by Hashim Amla, won the Galle Test by 153 runs and then hung on bravely for a draw at the SSC to overtake Australia as the number one Test side.
Sixth-ranked Sri Lanka have defeated number three Pakistan in two of their last five series since 2009, losing just once. Two series were drawn including the most recent one in January in the United Arab Emirates.
The upcoming matches, which are not part of the Future Tours Programme, were finalised at Pakistan’s request since Misbah-ul Haq’s men faced a barren period from January to October.
Pakistan, looking for their first series win since defeating England in the UAE in 2012, have recalled fast bowling great Waqar Younis as head coach, with Zimbabwean Grant Flower as batting coach.
Spin is expected to dominate, with Pakistan boasting the prolific Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, and the hosts banking on the trusted duo of Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera.
“Spin usually has a big say in Sri Lanka and I don’t think it will be any different this time,” said Misbah. “We have the resources to win, but need to be at our best.”
The Test series, which ends on August 18, will be followed by three one-day internationals.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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1971: The Year The Music Changed Everything
Director: Asif Kapadia
4/5
