Sanath jayasooriya

Personal life

Jayasuriya was born to Dunstan and Breeda Jayasuriya in Matara and had his education at St. Servatius' College, Matara. It was there, that his cricketing talents were nourished by the Principal, G.L. Galappathy and coach Lionel Wagasinghe^[6]. He has an elder brother, Chandana Jayasuriya.

His wife, Sandra De Silva is a former flight attendant of Sri Lankan Airlines. Sanath and Sandra have 3 children. Sanath Jayasuriya was also one of the judges at the Miss World contest for the year 1996, which took place at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Sanath Jayasuriya is the first cricketer to be appointed as a UN Goodwill Ambassador (by UNAIDS, Geneva) for his commitment to prevention of HIV/AIDS among young people in Sri Lanka.

He entered politics in February 2010 as the candidate for Matara District. His party is the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Jayasuriya says that he intends to continue playing cricket if he is elected. Jayasuriya was declared winner in absentia with 74,352 votes in the Matara district, while playing for the Mumbai Indians in Indian Premier League.

International Records

• He has amassed the fourth highest ODI score, 189 runs, with Viv Richards.
• He currently holds the record for fastest fifty in ODIs, scored off just 17 balls.

• Jayasuriya jointly held the record for most sixes in an ODI innings, 11, with Shahid Afridi. He hit the sixes during an innings of 134 from 65 balls against Pakistan, in Singapore. This record was broken by Xavier Marshall of West Indies when he hit 12 sixes in an innings against Canada on 22 August,2008.

• Jayasuriya holds the record for second highest fours in an ODI innings, 24 fours.

• He is currently the second highest run scorer in ODIs with 13,377 runs. (Sachin Tendulkar is first with 17,598).

• He is the only batsman in history to have two consecutive ODI scores above 150.

• Jayasuriya holds the record for the fastest 150 in an ODI innings, off 95 balls against England in 2006.

• He is currently the third highest centurion in ODIs with 28 under his belt (only Ponting (29) and Tendulkar (46) have more).

• He held the record for the fastest century in ODIs, scored off just 48 balls, before Shahid Afridi scored a century of 37 balls against Sri Lanka.

• He holds the record of most number of 6s in ODIs. He currently has 270 sixes in his career.

• He held the record for scoring the most runs of an ODI over, 30, a feat which he achieved twice, against Pakistan and New Zealand. Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa broke the record by hitting 6 sixes in an over from Daan van Bunge, against the Netherlands.

• Jayasuriya has second most Man of the Match awards (47) in ODI cricket after Sachin Tendulkar (61).

• He was also the first player to play in 400 ODIs matches.

• He is the third batsman in Test cricket to hit 6 fours in one over. He did this against England in his last Test innings.

• He is the oldest player to have scored a ODI century, performing the feat against India at Dumballa, Sri Lanka on 28 January 2009. He was 39 years 212 days, beating Geoffrey Boycott's record of 39 years 51 days.

• Probably the most remarkable of all of his records stretches across all three recognized forms of international cricket. The Sri Lankan cricket team holds the record for the Highest Innings Totals in Tests, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. In each of these Highest Innings Totals, Sanath Jayasuriya was the leading scorer for Sri Lanka.

Top Scorers in World Record Team Totals
Format	World Record Team Total	Team	Top Scorer	Score	Date
Test	952/6d	Sri Lanka	Sanath Jayasuriya	340	2-6 August 1997
ODI	443/9	Sri Lanka	Sanath Jayasuriya	157	4 July 2006
T20I	260/6	Sri Lanka	Sanath Jayasuriya	88	14 September 2007

Archive for the ‘Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak)’ Category

Moonlight on The Peak

Moonlight on the eastern face of Sri Pada

As is inevitable for so many of us I’ve found that parenthood is a wonderful but rather taxing period of life that has had a significant impact on my creative instincts and need to be in the wilderness. Now that our son Lenny is becoming more independent there have been new possibilities to combine family getaways and passion pursuits in the hills. In January we returned to the Fishing Hut with several friends and enjoyed two nights and three days in the shadow of Sri Pada. On the first night the full moon of the Poya illuminated the peak in dreamlike hues. The lights of the temple and pathway lit up a crown of mist that hovered over the summit. The next day, our group ascended the scared pinnacle along the Peak Wilderness forest path. In contrast to the first day’s cloudless skies we walked through mist and intermittent showers. Lenny was a champion hiker and made it to the summit temple with few complaints and a resilience that surprised me. If I’m correct he is one of the youngest OSC students to make the pilgrimage on his own steam.

Sri Pada with the Class of 2011 Environmental Systems & Societies Class

Sri Pada's eastern face set amidst the sub-montane forest of Peak Wilderness.

Every winter just before the first school semester draws to a close I have the privilege of taking my grade 11 IB Environmental Systems & Societies class for a three-day field trip to the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary in Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands. The aim of the trip is to expose students to natural as well as human-impacted ecosystems in the Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak) area. Much time is spent getting there and back but it remains a key learning experience for our students. We spend most of our time looking at issues of vertical zonation in sub-montane and montane (cloud) forest. We mapped our track and are now working on a GIS generated map of the area’s vegetation (along with contour lines etc.). I have the students focus on plants but we also take note of birds, reptiles and amphibians that we come across. The trip is designed for exposure rather than hard data gathering (something that they will do in Sinharaja in May). As usual we stayed at the Maskeliya Estate Fishing Hut bungalow. It offers few creature comforts but is an ideal site for a field study and is set on the boundary between the vast tea estate and undisturbed montane forest.

This year I took eleven enthusiastic students, many who had been in my grade 10 Geography class which did a field trip to Horton Plains National Park. Of the three Sri Lankan students none had been to this sacred mountain before! Our second day was spent climbing up slowly through the montane and then cloud forest to the summit of Sri Pada (2,243 m). I had a unique and unusual experience of meeting a Buddhist monk from Chittagong (Bangladesh) on the way up. We enjoyed a lengthy discussion in Bangla as we completed the last steps and arrived at the temple mid day! These pictures (all digital) were taken on the trip.

Actinodaphane speciosa ('elephant ear) on the trail to Sri Pada

Sub-montane forest near the Fishing Hut (@1400 meters)

With the class above Maskeliya . Kirigalpotha, Sri Lanka's 2nd highest peak located in Horton Plains National Park is the pyramid on the distant horizon.

Maskeliya Lake looking east towards Horton Plains National Park. The waterfalls is "Adam's Peak Falls" although it does not actually originate on the peak!

Written by ianlockwood

January11, 2010 at 3:40 pm

Posted in South Asian Natural History Etc., Sri Pada (Adam's Peak)

Poya In the Shadow of the Peak

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Poya In the Shadow of the Peak

Clearing mist on the east face of Sri Pada

When I first arrived in Sri Lanka I had a chance to meet Dominic and Nazreen Sansoni at the Barefoot Gallery. Dominic has taken some of the defining images of Sri Pada from the air and on the ground. Hearing about my interests in sacred mountains and tropical forests in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka they suggested that I visit a place known as the Fishing Hut in order to best appreciate Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak). It took a few years and some exploring to figure out the logistics but now I’ve been there three times and am looking forward to further visits.

In March I organized a trip to take our family and two others to the Central Highlands to enjoy three days in the shadow of Sri Pada. The visit offered marvelous views of the peak bathed in sunlight, clearing mist and the glow of the full moon. Bird and wildlife sightings were limited although a group of Sri Lanka Blue Magpies (Urocissa ornata) flew through the forest by the huts. All the usual endemics (Dull Blue Flycatcher, Yellow Eared Bulbul, Sri Lanka White Eye etc.) were encountered on the summit.

Our kids playing below the Fishing Hut, overshadowed by Sri Pada.

Raina and the other two women in our group climbed Sir Pada on the second day while we men watched over the kids. I went up with Jan, one of the fathers, on the second day. Punchirala, the multi-talented caretaker of the hut, guided us on the path even though I felt confident about from the December trip. The views of the peak and forest on the way up were stunning. The night before had been a poya and was very crowded with pilgrims but by the time we got to the temple it was pleasantly deserted. The priests and guards, now familiar with my frequent visits and tripod antics, offered us tea and hospitality. The path to Sri Pada from the Fishing Hut is certainly the most enjoyable route with respect to natural history. It is also a far gentler incline since it starts relatively high up (about 1,300meters).

Clearing amongst cloud forest in Peak Wilderness on the way up from the Fishing Hut to the summit of Sri Pada .

Hikkaduva beach in the sri lanka

Hikkaduwa Beach is situated 98Km from Colombo towards the south of Sri Lanka. The beach is a paradise of coral reefs, highly picturesque and arguably the most beautiful stretch of beach in Ceylon. The coral sanctuary found on the coast of Hikkaduwa is a large shallow body of water enclosed by a reef and decorated with layers of multi-coloured corals - home to countless, colourful fish. Off the beach there is a collection of tiny islets surrounded by beautiful coral formations. Many species of fish and large turtles are found here. After a short distance southwards from the centre of the reef, it diminishes giving rise to a wider sandy-bottomed beach with good waves ideal for board surfing and body surfing. You can rent the necessary equipment for snorkeling and surfing. There are many shops selling Masks, Gems, Jewellery, Batik, Antiques etc. along with several Buddhist temples, all of which add spice to life at Hikkaduwa.

Dalada Maligawa Kandy

Dalada Maaligawa occupies a unique position in the life of people of Sri Lanka. Not only during festive days ;B ut through out the year the throb of drums, the wail of the fife, the clang of the cymbals and the call of the conch continues to resonate within the chambers of this hallowed shrine reminding us of oblations that have been performed throughout the ages.
Kandyan king Wimaladharmasuriya I (1592-1604 A.D) built a two storyed Temple for the Relic which had been concealed in Delgamuwa near Kuruwita in Sabaragamuwa.
Vimaladharmasuriya II(1687-1707) built a three storeyed temple and Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe (1747-1782) built the existing inner temple and Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe built the Pattirippuwa. King Narendrasingha re-built and had paintings of 32 jathaka stories of Depict of the wall of court yard. Paththirippuva (octagan) is part of the royal palace. King used to come and address the people from there. It was constructed by Devendra Moolachari during the period of king Sri Wickrama Rajasingha.

Sigiriya The Lion Mountain

Sri Lankan architectural tradition is well displayed at Sigiriya, the best preserved city centre in Asia from the first millennium, with its combination of buildings and gardens with their trees, pathways, water gardens, the fusion of symmetrical and asymmetrical elements, use of varying levels and of axial and radial planning.

The Complex consists of the central rock, rising 200 meters above the surrounding plain, and the two rectangular precincts on the east (90 hectares) and the west (40 hectares), surrounded by two moats and three ramparts.

The plan of the city is based on a precise square module. The layout extends outwards from co-ordinates at the centre of the palace complex at the summit, with the eastern and western axis directly aligned to it. The water garden, moats and ramparts are based on an 'echo plan' duplicating the layout and design on either side. This city still displays its skeletal layout and its significant features. 3 km from east to west and 1 km from north to south it displays the grandeur and complexity of urban-planning in 5^th century Sri Lanka.