John Burns took the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara in the fifth tier of the Dorset Cricket League
A village cricketer from Dorset says he will "never forget the moment" he took the wicket of former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara who made a surprise appearance in the fifth tier of the Dorset Cricket League.
John Burns - who plays for Kingston Lacy CC - was shocked to see opponents Shillingstone announce that 46-year-old Sangakkara would be turning out for them in Saturday's game.
"We knew a couple of days before that he would be playing," Burns told BBC South Today.
"We were just hoping he would actually turn up and it wasn’t some kind of joke, when he did arrive it was just something special, it was amazing."
Sangakkara scored 12,400 Test match runs and is the sixth-highest Test run-scorer of all time. He retired from international cricket in 2015 and moved to the Dorset area last year.
Sangakkara had made 68 off 50 balls when he was bowled by Burns.
With the ball, the former wicketkeeper bowled seven overs and finished with figures of 1-32.
Kumar Sangakkara scored 38 centuries in Test cricket
Shillingstone posted 177 batting first and were bowled out in 36.2 overs before beating their opponents by 76 runs.
"He hit me for a couple of fours and sixes in the over before," Burns added.
"He had been coming down the wicket every few balls, I tried to make him come forward when I bowled.
"Thankfully he did and luckily I hit the leg stump, it’s something I’ll never forget and can tell people about for years to come."
When he got Sangakkara's wicket, a batter who averaged 57.40 in Test matches, Burns said his team-mates did not quite react how he might have expected them to.
"No one really celebrated," he said.
"Everyone just stood there and was more just in shock at what had happened.
Being able to play on the same field as him let alone take his wicket is something special."
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