Quoting Tendulkar's remarks The Times stated: ''The first innings total of 537 for eight declared now paled into insignificance, but if Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian captain,was worried about being on the wrong end of such a record score, he kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he vented his frustration on a pitch that he described as ''unfit for Test cricket'' and hinted at his disappointment at Sri Lanka's reluctance to play for a full result.
''If we had lost the toss and batted second, we could also have played a massive innings,'' he said. ''We only lost wickets because we took chances and went for the runs.''
Apart from Tendulkar's bit in bad-taste the reports were more than glorious with The Times carrying a box on its front page with Len Hutton's picture - '952 for 6: 1938 record falls at last' - obviously referring to the famous 903 - 7 against Australia at 'The Oval in 1938, when Hutton made his then world record 364.
Every paper published an extra large picture of Jayasuriya returning to the pavilion and a shot of the scoreboard showing the full scores at the end of the final day. The articles spoke of maestro Jayasuriya in particular and the wonderful performances of the rest in general.
Describing the hit that beat England's 903 - 7 The Express said: ''Aravinda de Silva hammered a quick-fire hundred, and his rocketing square cut to the boundary took the total past England's revered 903 mark set 59 years ago.''
Another respected broadsheet The Independent carried a special piece on page one supported by famous cartoonist Colin Wheeler.
The Independent published two interesting quotes from Cricket Board president Upali Dharmadasa and former Australian captain Greg Chappell. It said: ''Upali Dharmadasa, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka said: ''We had set ourselves the target of mastering Test cricket as we have the one-day variety by the year 2000 and our batsmen have to learn to occupy the crease, which is one of the secrets to success in the traditional game. This was a tremendous performance and means a lot to us in the development of a real Test team,''
Yet according to the former Australian captain Greg Chapell, as a television commentator, such pointless results are only hastening the day when regulations covering Test cricket must be changed to ensure its survival.
''The groundsman prepared an absolute belter - which did not offer an equal contest between bat and ball and you cannot blame the batsmen for taking full advantage,'' he said.
''Anyone who makes 300 in a Test has got to have great skill and powers of endurance but the public is not going to come out to watch when they know they're not going to have a chance of a result.
All lovers of Sri Lankan cricket including many locals welcomed a statement attributed to team manager Duleep Mendis in The Times. It said: ''Duleep Mendis, the Sri Lanka team manager, knows that this could affect the attitudes of ''those countries who don't feel we can earn them enough gate money in a Test match.''
The Times ended the article on a more pleasing note when it said: ''After their World Cup victory, numerous successes in other one-day tournaments and these latest accolades, Sri Lanka's drive to become the best cricketing nation in the world by the year 2000, an ambition that looked fanciful two years ago, is gaining momentum''