Kumar Sangakkara says he owes a lot of his success to his father

Kumar Sangakkara says he owes a lot of his success to his father, who wants him to strive for a standard of consistency only matched by Don Bradman

Engeltine Cottage, as their home was named by the original owners, 81 years before the Sangakkaras bought it, is exactly the sort of place you would expect a man like Kumar would be made. The gated driveway opens up into a substantial, impeccably manicured lawn, with fruit trees and flowers skirting one side, and the gracefully colonial, unmistakeably Sri Lankan bungalow rising up on the other. White pillars hold up a verandah that shades a few pieces of outdoor furniture and a vehicle.