(REUTERS) Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara will retire from first-class cricket in September at the end of England's county championship season.
The Surrey batsman, who quit test cricket in 2015 with 12,400 runs, is fifth on the all-time list of test run scorers, averaging 57.40 in 134 tests.
"You try to fight the inevitable but you need to get out while you're ahead," the 39-year-old told the BBC on Monday.
"It's the last time I'll play a four-day game here. I'll be 40 in a few months, this is about the end of my time in county cricket."
As well as his test exploits, Sangakkara has been one of the game's great limited overs batsmen and was part of the Sri Lanka team that reached the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals, although they lost to Australia and India respectively.
His Twenty20 commitments will take him through to 2018, but his time in the longer format is almost over.
"My career might have a few more months (left) but that's about it," he added.
Having joined Surrey for the 2015 season, Sangakkara is still in good form. He scored over 1,000 first-class runs last term and hit two centuries against Middlesex at the weekend but felt it was still time to walk away.
A Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 212 helicopter belonging to the No. 72 squadron has crashed into the Madhuru Oya reservoir this morning, Air FOrce Media Spokesman Eranda Geeganage said.
Update: Five of the twelve passengers on board the bell 212 aircraft that crashed into the Maduru Oya today, have succumbed to their injuries, the SLAF said.
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