Sri Lanka great Rangana Herath is confident he has chosen the right time to retire from international cricket and aims to go out on a high against England.

Herath called time on his white-ball career in 2016 but continued to play the longest format, with the first Test in Galle this week set to be his last.

The 40-year-old is 10th on the all-time wicket-takers list and could move further up the standings in his final appearance, where he is ready for an emotional farewell.

"When you are ending your career, it is not an easy decision to take," Herath told a news conference on Monday.

"You need to take the decision at the right time and I decided this is high time, the right time to stop playing international cricket.

SLC wishes to inform that Mr. Rangana Herath following a discussion he had with the SLC CEO and the selectors, notified his retirement from test cricket, after the 1st test match, in Galle against England. #ThankYouHerath https://t.co/4V6f6LjTpp pic.twitter.com/Cu12JQXZrv
— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) October 22, 2018

"Of course [it will be emotional] - I played international cricket from 1999, before that I played school cricket and junior level cricket. When you retire from cricket, that you love, of course it's a sad moment."

Alastair Cook ended his England career in their last Test, bowing out with a century, and Herath is looking for a similarly happy ending.

"When you are playing against any country, when they lose a player like Alastair Cook - with that experience, his records - it's going to be a help for us in this series," he said.

Asked if that would mean a flurry of wickets this week, Herath replied: "As always."

Sri Lanka have announced paceman Lahiru Kumara has been removed from their 16-man squad for the England series due to a breach of the team's code of conduct, with Dushmantha Chameera taking his place.