COLOMBO: Sri Lankan veteran batsman, Kumar Sangakkara will play two County Championship matches for Durham, against Yorkshire and Sussex, in preparation for Sri Lanka's tour of England, ARY News has learnt.
Sangakkara will miss Sri Lanka's two ODIs in Ireland, and will join the squad after completing his second Durham match on May 14, ahead of Sri Lanka's warm-up one-dayer against Kent.
"I'm really looking forward to returning to county cricket with Durham and I'm immensely grateful for the opportunity," Sangakkara said.
"I actually made my debut for Warwickshire against Durham back in 2007 – I scored a few runs that day so I'm hoping to make amends this time around."
Sangakkara had sought a short-term county contract in order to acclimatize to England's early summer conditions and the Duke ball, but had to wait on clearance from the national selectors, and a no-objection certificate from the board, before confirming the deal with Durham.
Sri Lanka play their limited-overs leg of the tour first and switch to Test mode via a first-class match against Northamptonshire starting June 5.
