Kumar Sangakkara’s beloved Oval closes the circle on a great career

• Left-hander heaps rich praise on his ‘home’ ground, where he will draw curtains on illustrious professional career

www.icc-cricket.com: On a grey and ominous afternoon at The Oval in south London, Kumar Sangakkara is keeping an eye on two things that he loves. One is the Sri Lankan cricket team, which is in the first innings of what will become a famous victory. Later this afternoon they would chase 321 against India’s powerful bowling. The other is the venue for the match, the home of his own Surrey County Cricket Club.

“You very quickly fall in love with playing here,” says the former Sri Lanka captain, wicketkeeper, and star batsman. “For any cricketer coming to England, the focus and the hype is all about Lord’s. Playing at Lord’s, getting on the board, walking through the Long Room, various things that go through your head, and so a lot of the other grounds are then forgotten. But The Oval is a special place.”

It certainly is for Sri Lanka, who scored a totally unexpected Test victory here in 1998 thanks to Muttiah Muralitharan’s 16 wickets, and some incredible batting from Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya. These days the win is part of that country’s cricket foundations. But the history goes beyond that.

“You come to understand that the first ever Test match was played here. It was the home of Sir Jack Hobbs, and of course Douglas Jardine, of the infamous Bodyline series, who captained England and rattled the Australians. But also when you walk around the ground and you understand how many true legends of the game have played here, and have been the underpinning foundation for the rise of English cricket over the years, it becomes even more special.”

There’s also the sense that this is a ground for the people. The streets around Kennington seem like ordinary neighbourhoods: crowded apartment blocks with laundry racks or kids’ toys piled up outside front doors. The crowded markets of Brixton are just down the road, and the Caribbean community is as much part of The Oval’s history as anyone else, through the atmosphere at the ground when the West Indies played here at their peak.

“It’s the atmosphere and convenience of the ground when crowds come in,” says Sangakkara. “It’s very easy to get to, the atmosphere is much more intense here and closer to the action than other grounds, and it’s an amazing place to play. Every ground has a unique characteristic, and definitely one for The Oval is where people coming in don’t feel as if they are intruding. They feel as if they belong. A player coming here feels the same.”

Through the thick tinted glass of a commentary booth window, the ground that Sangakkara talks about keeps on making itself known. Another comfortable crowd is in occupation, mostly wearing blue and orange. In the dark grey suit of a television station, the Surrey batsman turns his head every time a dulled roar indicates an Indian boundary as the score stacks up towards 300. He knows exactly what it’s like to be out there in the middle.

“I’ve had the good fortune to play here now for three seasons, and it is by far the most enjoyable county stint I’ve had. The wickets are the best in England if you’re a batsman. It could be a factor that more batsmen at Surrey have achieved a hundred hundreds in first-class cricket than anywhere else. The last was Mark Ramprakash, who I would say got over 60 of his hundreds here.”

Being at Surrey has certainly worked for the left-handed stylist, who stepped away from international cricket in stages through 2014 and 2015. He left Twenty20 Internationals by winning the World T20, departed ODI cricket with four hundreds in a row in the 2015 World Cup, and retired from Tests later that year after a 1-1 series draw at home against India. Then he arrived in England and started the run machine anew, this season falling just short of recording centuries in six consecutive first-class innings. Most of those were away from home, so he doesn’t have a blameless Oval surface to thank, but he partly still credits his home ground.

“It’s that the training facilities are excellent. We have the marquee up during winter, so that you’re never actually practising indoors.

The bowlers are bowling off a full run, and the wickets are prepared to their best. They get heaters so it’s about 30 degrees in there. Everything is done to ensure that players remain focused and have the best environment to train. That shows in the results. Also how the management team and the Surrey committee really look after their players. A lot of the things that make The Oval special are not what goes on out on the field, but away from it.”

There could easily be the temptation to prolong the dream, where Sangakkara feels so at home and would be welcomed back with open arms. But his decision to call time on his professional career stands firm, whatever happens on the field.

“Either way this was going to be my last season, whether I had a successful season or not. But the good times are not always measured in runs. I carry away memories of a great bunch of cricketers plying their trade, day in, day out, in tough conditions.

“Being a part of that group, making friends and long-lasting relationships, they will be the abiding memories I carry with me. It’s nice of course to go out, as they say, on a high, but these are not things in your control really. You just go out, be as professional as you can in your preparation and the application of your skills, and hopefully the chips fall your way.”

The crowd roars again, longer this time, and Sangakkara cranes his neck to see if a lofted ball carries to the deep. It doesn’t. The Indian fans go up a few more decibels. Later, they will be silent and streaming from the ground before the chase is even done, as the noise will come instead from the Sri Lankan fans and their papare brass band. With the upset complete, the path through to the final will remain open for every team in Sri Lanka’s group.

“I think it’ll be a special one,” Sangakkara says of the Oval showpiece on the 18th. “An ICC Champions Trophy, akin to a World Cup. The best eight teams are playing. You are going to be the two best teams left standing walking out to vie for the white jacket.

“So it’ll be a much looked-forward-to contest, not just for the players but the fans too will be buzzing. If the sun is out and the weather is warm, there’s no better place than The Oval to play that match. I’m not sure where I’ll be, depending on my commitments to Surrey. If I am free, I will definitely be watching.”