Marvan Atapattu (SL)
As a veteran of 90 tests and 268 ODIs, Marvan Atapattu ranks alongside the likes of Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga and Sanath Jayasuriya as one of the greatest ever Sri Lankan batsmen. He has only recently retired from international cricket and played his final test against Australia in November 2007, ending on a high with 80 in his final test innings. His test career had somewhat inauspicious beginnings as the results of his first half a dozen innings bore a startling resemblance to binary code, but he recovered to finish with a total of 5502 test runs and become one of the most dependable batsmen in the Sri Lankan side. He was renowned for his defensive approach to batting, but that soon came to pay dividends as his skills brilliantly complemented the fireworks provided by Sanath Jayasuriya (his opening partner for the majority of his test career) and led to a personal landmark as he became the first Sri Lankan to score six test double centuries - indeed only Don Bradman, Wally Hammond and Brian Lara have scored more. He also had a couple of tenures as captain of the Sri Lankan side, totalling 63 ODIs and 18 tests, but ultimately it was his prickly relationship with the Sri Lankan selectors that caused his retirement as, prior to his last test, he famously described the selectors as "a bunch of muppets" before announcing his retirement towards the end of that match. Since then, he has moved on to captain the Delhi Jets (now the Delhi Giants) in the Indian Cricket League and comes into his second season with Lashings, hoping to continue his good form of the 2007 season where he made 115 against a Birmingham League XI on debut, hammered 120 in just 57 balls against a Kent Academy XI in a 20/20 match, topped the run charts for Lashings and was the only player to pass 1000 runs for the season.
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