Angelo Mathews Retires From Test Cricket

Veteran Sri Lankan All-rounder Angelo Mathews has called time on his test career. Mathews is all set to retire from the red-ball format after playing the 1st test match against Bangladesh at Galle. Mathews will be hanging up his boots in the test format at the same venue where his test journey began in 2009. While his test career will come to an end in June, the veteran all-rounder has made himself available for white-ball selection.

Mathews Retires

"It is time to hang up my boots in probably one of the best formats of International Cricket, the International Test Cricket, I've given everything to cricket & I've got everything from the sport in the last 19 years, it has made the person I'm today" Mathews wrote in a social media post.

The Galle Test will be Mathews' 119th in the format, 34 of which he played as a captain. He is set to finish as Sri Lanka's third-highest run-scorer in Tests, behind only Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Heading into his final match, Mathews has scored 8,167 runs with 16 centuries at an average of 44.62, with 200* being his highest score.

Among the highlights of his career was a prolific stretch between 2013 and 2015, when he averaged 74.60, 77.33, and 42.25 across the three years, scoring six hundreds and 12 fifties. His prime also included a match-winning 160 at Headingley. He couldn't replicate the form but, he had his test batting average around 50 in 2022 and 2023 he also went onto smash four more tons with a recent one coming against Afghanistan in 2024.

"I'm grateful to the game & the thousands of Sri Lankan Cricket fans who've supported me in my highest & lowest forms, this is a bunch of Sri Lankan test cricket players who have it in them to achieve success for the country, there are some great & some future great players." I feel now is the right time to pass on the baton. ''It's the end of the journey, but the love for the game will always remain.