Hewasandatchige Asiri Prasanna Wishvanath Jayawardene ( Sinhala: හේවාසන්දච්චිගේ ආසිරි ප්‍රසන්න විශ්වනාත් ජයවර්ධන) (born 10 September 1979), commonly known as Prasanna Jayawardene is a former Sri Lankan

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er, who played Test and ODIs for Sri Lanka Cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and a wicketkeeper, where he served as the permanent wicketkeeper in tests. Though he hasn't yet announced his retirement from international cricket, he has not played international cricket after April 2015. From 2021, Jayawardene has represented Woodhall Spa Cricket Club, in the Lincolnshire Premier League, made famous by Can You Cricket's videos on YouTube.

Domestic career

Having toured

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in 1998 as a 19-year-old, Jayawardene was touted for a long career as a Sri Lankan cricketer, but soon found himself out of play thanks to the emerging talent of

Kumar Sangakkara Kumara Chokshananda Sangakkara ( si, කුමාර් චොක්ශනාද සංගක්කාර; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan cricket commentator, former professional cricketer, businessman, ICC Hall of Fame inductee and the ...

in 2000. His career was again thwarted by the good form of

Romesh Kaluwitharana Deshabandu Romesh Shantha Kaluwitharana ( si, රොමේෂ් ශාන්ත කලුවිතාරණ; born 24 November 1969) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who represented the Sri Lanka national cricket team from 1990 to 2004. He was ...

, but since this he has managed to make a few appearances for the Sri Lankan team. With the Sri Lankan selectors having concerns about Sangakkara's playing ability, Jayawardene was once again called into action against

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in April 2004. He made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...

debut on 17 August 2004, for

Nondescripts Cricket Club Nondescripts Cricket Club (also known by its initials NCC) is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The team plays at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground. History The club was founded in 1888. The name "Nondescripts" is derived ...

in the

2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament The 2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament is the 1st season of the official Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Sri Lanka. 15 teams in total, five representing four provinces of Sri Lanka and a Sri Lanka Schools XI team participating in the compet ...

International career

Due to

's status as a regular wicketkeeper-batsman, he was trouble in playing No.3 of the batting order while keeping all day. Sri Lankan selectors felt that they could afford to play a specialist keeper in test matches. As a result of this, both Sangakkara and Jayawardene have played test cricket in the same team of late, Sangakkara as a specialist top order batsman and Jayawardene as the specialist keeper down the order. Jayawardene donned the gloves for Sri Lanka due to an injury to Sangakkara in Sri Lanka's 1st Test against Australia on 8 November 2007. In the Test series against

in December, Jayawardene flourished with two vital fifties and nine catches. On the 27 May 2011 Jayawardene scored a patient yet fluent 112 at the

SWALEC stadium The Cardiff Wales Stadium, which is part of Sophia Gardens Cardiff ( ; cy, Gerddi Soffia Caerdydd), is a cricket stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It is located in Sophia Gardens on the River Taff. It is home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club and is l ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayawardene, Prasanna 1979 births Living people Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Sri Lanka Test cricketers Basnahira South cricketers Nondescripts Cricket Club cricketers Sinhalese Sports Club cricketers Colombo Cricket Club cricketers Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club cricketers Basnahira cricketers Ruhuna cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Alumni of St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa Wicket-keepers