Sangakkara had promised Shillingstone that he would turn out for them this season, having taken part in a charity Q&A for them earlier this year.

“There was a massive buzz in the changing room, which is a mix of ages young and old, and everyone was excited to have him in there,” said Sangakkara’s new team-mate Nick Marshall.

“One of our players lent Kumar some whites to wear.

“We were all getting out cheaply and he came in and took his time not playing any risky shots, before starting to go a bit harder.

“He spoke to us about how to approach batting on different wickets.”

Sangakkara, 46, scored more than 28,000 runs for Sri Lanka across formats, including 12,400 in Test cricket at an extraordinary average of 57. That places him sixth on the all-time Test run-scoring list.

He retired professionally at the end of 2017 and now divides his time between media work, often with Sky, and as director of cricket for Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals.

Since moving to Dorset he has been helping to train the county’s over-50s and over-60s men’s sides.