Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene, one of the sport's modern greats, is to retire from Test cricket.
It was announced this morning that the 37-year-old has informed Sri Lanka Cricket of a decision that will bring down the curtain on his distinguished career in the longest format later this year.
Jayawardene, who retired from the Twenty20 format along with his fellow Sri Lanka linchpin Kumar Sangakkara after their recent World Twenty20 victory, will continue to play in one-day internationals - with the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand still on his agenda next winter.
If fit and selected for Sri Lanka’s matches over the course of the year, Jayawardene will finish on 149 Tests with the match against Pakistan at the P Sara Oval that begins on August 14.
A statement from Sri Lanka Cricket read: "Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that Mr Mahela Jayawardene has tendered his resignation from Test cricket.
"Addressing a letter to the chief executive officer of SLC Mr Ashley De Silva, Mahela Jayawardene has stated that he would like to retire from Test cricket after the forthcoming Test series' against South Africa and Pakistan."
Former Sri Lanka captain Jayawardene said: "It was not an easy decision to make, given that it has been a great privilege and honour representing my country during the past 18 years.
"But I believe this is the right time."
Jayawardene, whose most recent series was last month's 1-0 Investec Test win in England, has made 11,493 runs in 145 Tests at an average of above 50.
He is joint sixth, alongside Sangakkara, on the all-time list of record Test run-scorers – boasting 33 hundreds and 48 fifties across 244 innings.