I have been reflecting this weekend on what a wonderful feast of cricket we have been privileged to witness in our island this past week.

The first test match between Sri Lanka and England provided us with some wonderful memories. It began with the fact that Chaminda Vaas – the only cricketer I know of with six initials (WPUJCV) and probably the longest set of names in international cricket – was playing his hundredth test match for Sri Lanka. As his long time team-mate Sanath Jayasuriya observed, "For fast bowlers it is not easy to play a hundred games at this level" – and it is amazing that this man after all the wear and tear of the past thirteen years can still weave those magic spells of bowling, as he amply demonstrated in England’s second innings. Vass made his test debut – coincidentally at Asgiriya in August 1994 – in a forgettable game against Pakistan. Now, a hundred tests later and two months short of his thirty-fourth birthday, he has proved himself arguably the most successful opening bowler this country has produced.

This match sadly marked the final test for Sanath Jayasuriya, who signed off his Test career after 109 games, 6973 runs – and 98 wickets. Cricket writer Charlie Austin describes him as "dizzily dangerous – a man whose brutal bat-wielding is at odds with his shy, gentle nature". Sanath has given us Sri Lankans much to be proud about – from his test debut against New Zealand in 1991 to his final innings this week where he scored a respectable 78, belting James Anderson for six boundaries in one over, taking a vital wicket to boot and contributing in no small way to his team’s victory.

Memorable moments occurred aplenty in this match – but the one that everyone was waiting for was Muttiah Muralidaran’s breaking the record for the most number of wickets in test cricket. That he got there by taking the wicket of the formidable Paul Collingwood was a great achievement – and then he followed it up by adding to his tally in the second innings, breaking up the dangerous partnership of Mathew Prior and Ian Bell when it looked like the two Englishmen would keep batting on to save the match. "Muttiah Muralidaran" says Australian Andrew Symonds in his recent autobiography "from the beginning pretty much bamboozled everyone!" and I would imagine that all of us on this island wish that he continues to bamboozle opposing batsmen for many years to come.

The match itself provided all that one can ask from a test match – extending for the full five days, first one side being ahead and then the other team getting the better of the exchanges. From being 40 for 5 in the first hour of the Test match, the Sri Lankan team fought back with great character to win in the final session of the day. Having been 90 for five before lunch on the final day and then staging a tenacious 109 run partnership that nearly denied Sri Lanka victory, England proved tough and dogged fighters. There were individual performances by members of both teams like the persistently delightful batting of both Bell and Sangakkara, a couple of tremendous catches (Collingwood’s one handed leap to dismiss Sangakkara and Chamara Silva’s first innings catch off Bell come to mind) and moments like Hoggard’s mesmerizing bowling in the first innings and Lasith Malinga’s crashing delivery to uproot Hoggard’s stumps and win the match. There were good efforts from everyone in the Sri Lankan team, every one contributing in one way or another to the team’s success.