Angelo Mathews: '2014 was the best year of my career and the England series was the icing on the cake'
The allrounder looks back at Sri Lanka's memorable Test series win in England ten years ago

Angelo Mathews on the current England tour: "We can say, 'Yes, we've done it before, and we can do it again'" • Martin Rickett/PA Photos/Getty Images
It was one of my best years as player and captain. It will go into the record books and history books. We can cherish those moments for the rest of our lives, because it was such competitive cricket.
In my first Test at Lord's, being able to get on the honours board was such a delight for me. I was happy for Sanga as well because that was his last innings at Lord's and he desperately wanted that hundred. Good things happen to good people.
The most important job was done by Nuwan Pradeep and the lower order, because if we had lost that game, we wouldn't have won the series. I'm very grateful for the grit the bowlers showed with the bat in that game. In the dressing room we were counting down the overs. We were probably putting a lot of pressure on the batters who ended up having to go out there.
It was a pretty hostile series for both teams. There was a lot of talking and going at each other. It was quite fun on the field. I took the ball and tried to bowl on a good length. In England, if you land the ball on the spot and get it to move, it gives you a chance to take wickets. I just did that and got four wickets.
Yes, I do. I had a go at Dhammika in the dressing room as well. Any batsman can get out. In the heat of the moment, I must have thrown my bat as well. It was all part of the game, because it was a very hostile series and we badly wanted to beat England.
Right at the very top. It was foreign conditions, and playing that English team was a massive challenge. It was a 160 in a winning effort, which was the important thing. It wasn't just the match, winning the series and creating history was special.
We've had that conversation quite a bit since then. Yes, it stirred him up a bit. We know that Dhammika can also bat and score some runs, so that's what we were expecting. Anyone can get out, it's just the way he got out at the time [ramping a short ball and holing out to deep third]…
It was a rollercoaster of emotions. At one point, in my mind I kind of gave up [when] Anderson and Moeen Ali batted for quite a while. But then another part of me kept telling me we were going to win. We threw all our options out. I was going to bowl someone else for that last over, but in the last moment I gave it to Shaminda Eranga. Looking back, everything worked perfectly. But at some moments I did think I'd tried everything I can… but we kept trying every single trick.
Yes, I was at leg slip and Rangana was next to me at leg gully. And it popped out to Rangana. Anderson was playing really well and he never gave up. They showed a lot of grit as well. That last-wicket pair batted for a lot of overs.
No doubt at all, because all 11 of us were expecting that to come to us. I'm sure any of us would have taken that with our whole body - it was that important. We were waiting for even a quarter of a chance - not even half. I'm a 1000% sure Rangana was never going to drop that.
I keep saying 2014 was the best year of my career so far. The England series was the icing on the cake. The team was very confident. The way we'd played leading up gave us a huge boost coming into that series. When you keep winning, you tend to think you can beat any team in any conditions. That was our mindset. We lived up to those expectations.
Yes, absolutely. We've been sharing about 2014, because it gives us hopes. We can say, "Yes, we've done it before, and we can do it again." Now the team is different and the team we're playing is different, but it's been done before. If we play to our potential in this series, we can beat them again.
I'm extremely honoured to play any game for Sri Lanka. Ten years ago I was 27 and I wanted to play every single game - not that that's not the case now. But the amount of cricket we play now is a lot. When you age you have to manage your workload. Back then I didn't even think of workloads. I just wanted to play for my country in any format, and try to win every single game, with the bat or the ball. Maybe that led to injuries, but I have no regrets. I got injured while playing for my country.
I'm pretty much undercooked with my bowling. Since the LPL, I haven't been bowling that much. I have been preparing myself a bit to bowl. Even in these conditions it's not easy to walk into the field and start bowling, and I haven't had much bowling under my belt for a while. Let's hope I will bowl.
I haven't got a lot of pace, but I land it on the spot most of the time, so that gives me an opportunity to get wickets in a place like England. Looking back, even in the 2009 T20 World Cup semi-final, I got those three wickets in the first over and helped my team to victory. And then in the 2019 ODI World Cup against West Indies, I hadn't bowled for about eight months, but I used my experience to get the team over the line. I do have fond memories bowling in England.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf