England have tried Flintoff at three

Perhaps that isn't all that surprising in the helter-skelter world of one-day cricket. But where Kalu's contribution stood out, was that it came from a makeshift opening batsman.

In the space of a few frantic weeks across the subcontinent, Kalu had given cricket its newest phrase - "the pinch-hitter".

Borrowed from baseball (used when all the bases are loaded and a sacrificial striker is sent in to tip-and-run), the pinch-hitter in cricket is the "non-batsman" sent in up the order with a license to attack everything.

Of course such a ploy can go horribly wrong, as it did in Sri Lanka's first match of the World Cup, against Zimbabwe, when Kalu was dismissed first ball.

But pinch-hitting is not about the number of runs scored; it is about setting the pace for the innings, knocking the opening bowlers off their length.

Kaluwitharana is prepared to improvise

Just ask Javagal Srinath and Manoj Probhakar, India's opening pair, who suffered as Kalu hit six fours in his first 15 balls in Delhi before holing out for 26.

Sri Lanka, set 272 to win, powered their way to victory with more than an over to spare.

And then there were the fireworks at Kandy against Kenya where Kalu plundered 33 from 18 balls, including four fours and two sixes. Sri Lanka never eased up, reaching 102-2 in ten overs, and a record 398-5 in all.

Against England, Kalu was downright arrogant, swinging his first two balls for four, before over-egging the pudding by attempting a third and being bowled by Richard Illingworth.

At the other end, Sanath Jayasuriya clearly caught the bug, smiting 82 from 44 balls as England were first humbled and then disgraced with ten overs to spare.

Jayasuriya flourished alongside Kaluwitharana

Of course there were other, more significant contributions to Sri Lanka winning the World Cup that year, but Kalu's was to set the tempo and to maintain belief in his methods to the very end.

Against India in the semi final he was again out first ball. Out he came in the final and promptly carved to third man for only six.

"Aha, told you so," said the critics. "Pinch-hitting doesn't pay."

True, it doesn't over the long run, but the mistake made by all was that Kaluwitharana is not a pinch-hitter.

During that World Cup he played like a batsman, a very aggressive batsman.

It was overlooked that Kalu, though a wicketkeeper, scored a century on his Test debut against Australia in 1992 (from number seven), and that his strength throughout the tournament was to use his height (or lack of it) to turn balls that were just short of a length into long hops.

Neil Smith opened in 1996

Had he not already kept wicket in the third one-day international just played against England, how many who witnessed his century would have suspected that Kalu was anything more than an entertaining, unorthodox opening batsman.

After the World Cup most countries tried to replicate the Kalu and Jaya approach by promoting a bowler and attacking from the first ball.

Almost always the experiment backfired as valuable scoring opportunities at the start of the innings were wasted. Then, when wickets started to fall, an important lower-order batsman was absent.

Occasionally it would work, as it did when Ben Hollioake hit the Aussies for 63 at Lord's in 1997.

But Hollioake was sent in at number three four more times against the West Indies that winter and managed just 55 runs. He was not asked back.

Kaluwitharana: 60 single figure scores

Neil Smith and Mark Ealham have both been tried as opener or number three, mostly without success.

And most recently Andrew Flintoff has been promoted to number three.

Despite scoring 42 not out against Zimbabwe, he has not managed to break 100 runs in five innings.

By contrast, Kaluwitharana has 20 fifties and, now, two centuries to his name - most of them as an opening batsman and at a fair lick too.

But it should not go unnoticed that in 149 one-day international innings (92 of them as opener) he has been dismissed 60 times for single-figure scores, and 89 times under 20.

He has a lot to answer for.