Oh no! Jayasuriya despairs as Symonds hits out on Friday

A quick glance at the scoreboard will reveal that Jayasuriya took 1-66 off nine overs and was then run out for eight.

But in terms of milestone value, it was a big day for the amiable 34-year-old who started his 309th one-day international on Friday, breaking the Sri Lankan record that had been held by Aravinda de Silva.

If, instead of scoring eight, he had hit 113, he would also have set a new mark as the top run-scorer in limited-overs cricket for his country.

But de Silva's mark of 9,284 is unlikely to remain an obstacle for long.

Jayasuriya, a World Cup winner in 1996 and something of an icon for Sri Lankan fans, has no intention of calling it a day any time soon.

"I hope to represent my country for as long as I can," he said shortly before jogging onto the field at Dambulla's Rangiri Stadium.

When in full flight with those lavish cut shots and exquisitely timed drives, Jayasuriya has few equals as batsman in one-day cricket.

Despite a seemingly moderate average in the low 30s, he commands seventh spot in the Pricewaterhouse Coopers ratings.

And that is because of the electrifying speed with which he scores his runs.

On a good deck, opponents consider it a triumph to remove him for a score under 50.

Oh yes! Lofting an English seamer over mid-on for four more

But if it has taken him just 30 balls to hit 40, a perfect platform for the remaining batters has often been set.

Though his Test average is in excess of 40, and includes a magnificent 340 against India in Colombo, it is the one-day game that suits him down to the ground.

After beginning his international career as a middle-order batsman, he was sent in first during the 1995-96 tour to Australia and has been a permanent fixture at the top of the order ever since.

His reputation as an entertainer was established at the end of that season when he played a leading part in Sri Lanka's World Cup triumph.

He hammered 79 in an important early win against India and followed up with an astonishing82 off just 44 balls in the quarter-final against England.

Though it was the middle order who fired Sri Lanka to glory in the final, with de Silva supreme, it was Jayasuriya who was chosen as player of the tournament.

But he was not done there.

A 17-ball fifty, the fastest-ever, followed in Singapore a month later, and he added a 48-ball century in the same tournament for good measure, still the third-fastest ever scored.

New phase

Unsurprisingly, Wisden made him one of its five cricketers of the year in the almanac's 1997 edition.

Jayasuriya's career entered a new phase when he was named Sri Lankan captain for five years.

The responsibility suited him. He averaged close to 40 in one-dayers during that period with a superb haul of 10 centuries and 25 fifties in 118 matches.

It included the third-highest score of all time, 189 against India in Sharjah,

He relinquished the captaincy after the 2003 World Cup, but he has not stopped scoring runs and is used more and more as a canny slow left-arm bowler.