By Bipin Dani

Lahiru Thirimanne's five slip catches in England's first innings during the recently concluded second Test in Galle equalled a Test record, and was just the 13th such instance.

Thirimanne was the first Sri Lankan to equal the record number of catches and according to South African statistician Andrew Samson, it was the first instance all five catches were taken off the same bowler, Lasith Embuldeniya.

Thirimanne’s fielding impressed Sri Lanka’s fielding coach Shane McDermott.

McDermott said, "Lahiru's ability to lead by example in the field as a senior player is great and as the fielding coach, I have really enjoyed working closely with him.”

"It was great to see Thirimanne be rewarded with both bat and in the field during this series. His attitude and effort during my time with the team over the last year has been awesome and I'm really happy to see him taking his opportunity as he deserves every success that comes his way."

"As a group, there will always be areas for improvement but we pride ourselves on excelling in all aspects of our fielding and are committed to being better daily,” he added further.

"Obviously it has been a tough year with minimal time together but we are extremely excited about having international cricket back in Sri Lanka and are looking forward to the challenges ahead,” he signed off.

Members of the losing Sri Lankan team left Galle on Monday, a day before the scheduled last day of the Test.

Players will be given a one-week break and then will start training in Colombo in groups.