Herath, the most successful left-arm bowler in Test history, had hinted at retirement in July this year and has made the decision final now.

"Maybe my final series will be the England series later in the year," the 40-year-old told BBC Sinhala.

"There comes a time for every cricketer, when they have to stop playing. I think that time has come for me."The 40-year-old has picked up 430 wickets in 92 Tests at an average of 27.95 with 34 five-wicket hauls and needs just one more scalp to take joint-ninth position with New Zealand great Richard Hadlee on the all-time wicket-takers list in Test cricket.

Herath is Sri Lanka's highest wicket-taker after Muttiah Muralitharan, who has a staggering 800 Test wickets to his name. In addition to his wickets in Test cricket, Herath also amassed 1680 runs with the bat with three half-centuries.

Incidentally, Herath had made his debut in Galle in 1999 and has chosen the same venue for the final international match of his career.

Herath also needs just one more wicket to join Muralitharan in having taken 100 wickets at the Galle International stadium. Muralitharan (Galle- 111, Asgiriya - 117 and SSC - 166) and James Anderson (Lord's - 103) are the only two bowlers to hold the record of taking 100 wickets at a single venue.

Herath had already retired from limited-overs cricket in 2016 after picking up 74 wickets from 71 ODIs and 18 wickets from 17 T20Is.

The first Test between Sri Lanka and England will be played between 6-11 November.

Source: www.indiatoday.in

BDST: 1220 HRS, OCT 22, 2018
SMS/