Two players in particular caught my eye this week, Firstly, India's Ishant Sharma claimed ten wickets in the drawn Barbados 2nd Test. His first innings analysis of 6-55 gave his side the initial edge but rain and bad light prevented either side from winning.
One man who did finish on the winning side - twice in two days - was Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene. After failing in the first ODI against England, he struck a brilliant 144 from 150 balls at Headingley, followed by 79 at Lord's at more than a run a ball. This combination wins earns him the Player of the Week prize.
Now 34, the stylish Sri Lankan former captain has been one of the world's greatest batsmen for a number of years now. While statistically his best format would appear to be Test cricket, he has produced some scintillating performances in ODIs this year. That 103 not out in the World Cup Final would have merited a Man of the Match and the big trophy itself 99 times out of a hundred. However, MS Dhoni deprived him of both. Now he has returned to his habit of giving English bowlers a hard time. A s ever, he achieved his high scores without the need of rustic heaves to long on, but with elegant field-piercing cuts and drives to the boundary, supported by neat flicks and nudges for ones and twos. Jayawardene's ODI average is better against England than any other Test-playing nation, although in Tests he also seems to excel against India and South Africa.
Mahela made his international debut in August 1997, against India in his native Colombo. It was to be a memorable match. Not so much because he struck 66 but because those runs contributed to Sri Lanka's world record total of 952-6 declared. Saneth Jayasuriya made 340 in that innings but the veteran opener's efforts would later be eclipsed by Jayawardene's 374 in the same city nine years later, part of a stupendous 624-run partnership with Kumar Sangakkara. Jayawardene seems to make a habit of hitting doubles and trebles and has advanced his career aggregates in both Tests and ODIs to almost 10,000 in each. His ODI average of 33.5 is fairly ordinary but in Tests it is a mighty impressive 52.6, including 28 hundreds.
An astute captain of his country, by all accounts he is also a nice guy, and commits a lot of time and money to charity projects. Mahela remains a cornerstone of Sri Lanka's international squad, which needs him to play on for a good few more years yet if they are to remain one of the world's top nations. He may not hit the headlines for beefy T20 knocks but it's always a pleasure to see such a master craftsmen at work in Test and ODIs.
