Cricket Team Mates: Kumar Sangakkara on the biggest characters in his career

Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara gives the lowdown on his team-mates from a near 20-year cricket career.

As part of Sky Sports' Team Mates strand for the 2015 county cricket season, Sangakkara - currently playing for Surrey - was the latest to lift the lid on his international and county colleagues…

Who is the worst loser?

Someone who takes things really seriously – even when we play a game of soccer to warm-up – is Mahela Jayawardene. He just hates losing, hates it with a passion. Many times we’ve had arguments and the referee has been called. He takes it exceptionally hard when he loses a game of soccer. He’s actually quite good – he loves Man Utd, which makes it all the better when we beat him.

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Who is most likely to sleep with their bat?

Thilan Samaraweera. He loves bats – he took the one he was batting with home or to his hotel room every day after a game and brought it back the next morning.

Who played with the most flair?

Brian Lara. No need to say anymore, just an unbelievable player.

Who is the best/worst trainer?

Laziest would be me, without a doubt. Hardest would be Chaminda Vaas. He was incredibly meticulous when it came to his bowling, and also did a lot of gym work and running work. It was great to watch how he went about his work.

Who has a gun arm?

Marvan Atapattu and Upul Tharanga form Sri Lanka both had very good arms. Andrew Symonds of Australia, Freddie Flintoff too, each had an absolute rocket of an arm. It was tough sometimes keeping wicket when they were throwing, especially from the circle, fielding at cover point and being a little over-enthusiastic with their throws.

Who is the best parker – and who is the worst?

Thisara Perera is definitely the worst. You wouldn’t want to get in a car with him. The best driver is Jayawardene, he is pretty safe. A conscientious driver.

Who is the most musical?

There are a few. I’ve been in an IPL side with Brett Lee and from the current Sri Lanka side there’s Sachithra Senanayake and Dhammika Prasad. They all like a bit of a sing-song, as did Vaas.

Who is the biggest joker?

You’ll have to go a long way to match someone on the level of Mark Wood when I was at Durham. He’s really funny and kept the dressing-room light and a really interesting place. I wasn’t there long enough for him to play any jokes on me, though.

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Who spends the longest in front of the mirror?

Angelo Mathews for sure. He cares a lot about his appearance and we make fun of him a lot for that.

Who is most likely to cry at a film?

Not sure on that one really. Us Sri Lankan boys are tough. Even the England boys who I’ve played county cricket with… No-one comes to mind I’m afraid.