Sangakkara to play for Warwickshire after World Cup

London, Feb 2 (UNI) Sri Lanka Test star Kumar Sangakkara will play for Warwickshire in 2007 season in his first stint at English county cricket.

The left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman will replace Australian Martin Love, who withdrew from his contract with the club because of an impending knee surgery.

''We are delighted to have secured one of the top players in the world,'' club director Mark Greatbatch said.

''Kumar Sangakkara has had an outstanding 12 months and is ranked in the top 10 batsmen in the world in both forms of international cricket.

''He is looking forward to taking that sort of form into our domestic season,'' Greatbatch said.

Sangakkara will join the club after the World Cup and he is expected to spend most of the summer at Edgbaston.

The 29-year-old Lankan star has scored more than 5,000 runs in 64 Tests, including 12 centuries, at an average of 50. His limited overs record is almost as impressive with 5,353 runs in 185 games and he has completed more than 350 dismissals behind the stumps in all forms of the international game.

UNI