INTERVIEW: Jayawardene out to enjoy life after cricket retirement

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  • Jayawardene (r) bid farewell to international cricket this year.

    The world bid farewell to one of the greatest cricketing careers in March this year. Sri Lanka stalwart Mahela Jayawardene decided to call it a day after 18 years on the international circuit, having accumulated 25,957 runs from 652 matches with 54 centuries.

    The mild-mannered Colombo native, along with good friend Kumar Sangakkara, formed the backbone of Sri Lankan batting that enjoyed a great deal of success across all formats.

    Sri Lanka most recently played a Test series against Pakistan and lost a closely-fought rubber in which Sangakkara was unavailable for the final Test.

    The Sri Lankans were clearly missing the calming presence of Jayawardene and with Sangakkara set to retire after the India series and a few more names likely to join him, it seems the island nation will have some tough days ahead.

    But Jayawardene is confident the team are set up to cope with their departures.

    “I think we made the right investments in the last few years in that a couple of senior players are going to retire. Angelo’s (Mathews, captain) obviously has got a big role to play and he’s scoring runs and he’s in the team,” the 38-year-old says.

    “They had a great series against an experienced Pakistan team and they came short, but they obviously played a lot of good cricket, so we can take a lot of positives out of the series.

    “Hopefully guys will learn from their mistakes but we need to give them time to settle down as a unit and find their own direction.

    “I’m quite happy with the way things are going, we just need to give them that extra bit of time because Kumar, myself [have gone] and a few of the other guys will leave pretty soon too. It’s going to be tough for Sri Lankan cricket for a little while, but as long as they work hard and learn, I’m sure they’ll pick it up really soon.”

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    It might be some time before the Sri Lankans start enjoying success at the top level but Jayawardene is certainly having a whale of a time post retirement. He is currently at the Caribbean Premier League playing for the Jamaica Tallawahs, alongside Chris Gayle and Andre Russell.

    And he is now focussed on playing cricket for enjoyment away from the rarefied and high pressure atmosphere of the international game.

    “I’m totally enjoying my cricket and having a bit of fun. I’m happy, I have no regrets leaving international cricket, I felt it was the right time, I had a long run. I was quite privileged to do that for my country, but everything has to come to an end.”

    Jayawardene says he is unsure how long he will keep going as roving Twenty20 specialist, but providing he continues to enjoy it, he will keep going.

    “I just started doing that this year, so as long as my body holds up and I enjoy it I’ll see how it goes. I am quite happy spending more time with my family and enjoying most of the things I haven’t been able to do during my career, so I’ll see what comes my way in the next six months or one year and make a decision.

    “I’m involved in a lot of other business ventures and stuff like that so it will keep me occupied in that area. If I’m enjoying it I’ll go a bit longer, if not you know, I’ll look at something else.”

    Once he does decide that his playing days are behind him he remains open to where the rest of his life will take him. While he has achieved so much on the field, Jayawardene has a lot of life still to live.

    “There are certain things when you get involved it becomes a full-time job and I’ve been travelling for 18 years,” he explains.

    “I would like to stay away from that. Not that I don’t like any of those works, but if I can be part of cricket in my own schedule, then it’ll appeal to me.

    “I mean commentary, coaching, just a few weeks of little stints which fit into my schedule and then at the same time I can do my own little things as well. That’ll be perfect for me, but I’ll need to work on that, I haven’t really had a plan. But I just don’t want to put myself in a position where I have to stick to one thing and have the same lifestyle which is travelling eight to 10 months of the year.”

    Life seems more relaxed for Jayawardene now as he looks back at a stellar career and picks out some of the most precious moments he feels have defined it.

    When asked to ponder his career highlights, Jayawardene is quick to mention his World Cups, despite his team’s disappointment at twice being losing finalists – first against Australia in 2007 and once again in 2011 to India.

    Despite the ending to those events not being what he dreamed of, the memories are still positive ones for Jayawardene.

    “Well I think most of the World Cup campaigns we were part of was quite enjoyable,” he adds.

    “I know the end result wasn’t ideal but the experience of still going through those tournaments and doing well is always going to be a highlight.”

    Away from World Cups, Jayawardene highlights the World T20 win in Bangladesh in 2014 and, of course, his success in Test cricket as the pinnacles of a vaunted career at the top.

    “Winning the T20 World Cup, the end was something special. I loved playing Test cricket and the challenges that come from playing all around the world, it’s been fantastic. I have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it and I have a lot of fond memories.”

    Mahela Jayawardene plays for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Hero Caribbean Premier League, which concludes on July 26.

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