Jayasuriya shows no signs of waning

Group B: Sri Lanka (6), India (5), Bangladesh (9), Bermuda

HE IS 37 years old and the only surviving member of the 1996 World Cup-winning squad. He still opens the batting as well as turns over his slow left-handers.

Sanath Jayasuriya (below) has been at the frontline for 17 years, amassing 11,538 runs, 23 centuries and picking up 285 wickets in his 379 matches. But there is no sign yet of a dimming of the light.

'I'm still enjoying my game and I'm playing really good cricket, and the team is playing really good cricket,' said Jayasuriya, a former captain.

'We have come to the West Indies in good form. I know I have a responsibility with both the bat and the ball, and I will be trying my best to perform for the team.'

His opening partner Upul Tharanga, a fellow left-hander, was only 11 when Sri Lanka were world champions. But he has formed an impressive link-up with the veteran, who believes another cup triumph can help bring happiness to his troubled island-home.

'I'm not thinking big runs at the moment or a big bag of wickets. I'm thinking team and how I can lift the hopes and aspirations of the people back home,' Jayasuriya said.

'I remember how great a feeling it was back in 1996 when we won, and how the people back home reacted. We have some wonderful memories and we played very well and I was delighted with the way I played. I would love to do that again.'

He revolutionised batting at the 1996 tournament, taking advantage of early fielding restrictions to smash boundary after boundary over the top of a host of bewildered strike bowlers.

'My batting represents my natural game. From the time I was a little boy, I always played my natural game and it was always to attack,' he explained.

Like many here, he will not be tempted into making predictions of a winner at the end of the marathon seven-week tournament.

'Most of the teams are in with a very good chance,' he said. 'In this World Cup, you cannot take anyone lightly.

'You have to play really good cricket if you want to win the cup.'

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE