Angelo Mathews to retire from Test Cricket for Sri Lanka after the first Test against Bangladesh to be played in June.
Angelo Mathews will retire from Test cricket after the first Test against Bangladesh in Galle, starting on June 17.
According to a statement he posted on social media, he will continue to be ready for white-ball selection “if and when my country needs me.”
Even though Mathews hasn’t been selected for a white-ball Sri Lanka team in nearly a year, his 119-appearance Test career will come to an end with the upcoming match. Since making his format debut in 2009, Mathews has essentially been a mainstay in the team.
However, Mathews, who turns 38 next week, will probably have to wait until May 2026 to play Tests again because Sri Lanka’s Test schedule is set to wind down.
“The past 17 years of playing cricket for Sri Lanka has been my highest honour and pride,” Mathews said. “I have given everything to cricket and cricket has given me everything in return and made me the person I am today. Whilst I bid adieu to the Test format, as discussed with selectors I will remain available for selection for the white ball format, if and when my country needs me.”
In 34 Test matches, Mathews captained Sri Lanka, helping them win some of their most well-known matches, most notably Headingley in 2014, where his 160 in the second innings won the contest.
His career total of 8167 runs as a batter places him third on Sri Lanka’s all-time list, after Mahela Jayawardene (11,814) and Kumar Sangakkara (12,400). He currently has a 44.62 Test average and 16 hundreds. Despite bowling seldom in Test cricket, Mathews has taken 33 wickets in the format.
Between 2013 and 2015, when he was at his best, Mathews scored 2378 runs at an average of 59.45, scaling peaks that are rarely attained by Sri Lankan batsmen. He batted at No. 5 or No. 6 for nearly all of those runs.
He has contributed significantly in Test matches even though he has never again reached that level of batting production. In 2022 and 2023, for example, he hit 2141 runs at an average of 51.15, but by then he had risen to No. 4. In February 2024, he scored his most recent Test century against Afghanistan.
His Test career has not been without controversy, especially in the years 2017 and 2018, when he and then-coach Chandika Hathurusinghe were embroiled in a public spat. After his career was hindered by a number of leg problems in the middle, the last few years have been marked by a greater emphasis on his conditioning.