Chaminda Vaas and Marvan Atapattu have been awarded honorary life membership of Marylebone Cricket Club.
The Sri Lanka legends have received the honour in recognition of their achievements during playing careers that spanned nearly 800 international matches.
Opening bowler Vaas took 355 wickets in 111 Tests at an average of 29.58. He has an unbeaten Test century to his name and averaged 24.32 with the bat in the five-day game.
Vaas was a one-day international stalwart, taking 400 wickets from 322 matches at an average of 27.53. He also played in Sri Lanka’s famous World Cup final victory over Australia in 1996.
During a 17-year international career, opening batsman Atapattu played 90 Tests and 268 ODIs, scoring over 14,000 runs and averaging nearly 40 in both formats.
Atapattu appears on the famous Lord’s honours board after making 185 in the first innings of a drawn Test against England in 2002. He also has a Lord’s ODI century to his name after leading Sri Lanka to victory in the final of the 1998 Emirates Triangular Tournament with 132 not out against England.
Atapattu and Vaas, now Sri Lanka head coach and bowling coach respectively, become the 12th and 13th Sri Lankan honorary life members of MCC, joining Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda De Silva and Kumar Sangakkara on the list.
Atapattu said: “There are some grounds and pitches that you want to take with you everywhere you go, and Lord’s is one of those for me. I loved it. The whole place brings out the best in a cricketer and I had a good record here. I am very happy that MCC have given me honorary life membership and I look forward to returning to Lord’s.”