The veteran Mahela Jayawardene has confirmed he will resign as Sri Lanka's skipper at the end of the tour of Australia.

Jayawardene had resigned from the captaincy in 2009, ending a four-year tenure that later resumed earlier this year, when he succeeded opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Vice-captain Angelo Mathews, who leads the Twenty20 International team, is likely to replace Jayawardene at the helm of the ODI and Test teams too. If appointed, the 25-year-old all-rounder will the country's fourth captain in 24 months.

"I took over the captaincy for 12 months and that ends after this series, so I don't want to continue to captain Sri Lanka after this tour. This will be my last. I was going to wait until the end of the series but I thought I might as well do it now, having had a chat to the selectors," said Jayawardene.

"I think Angelo is the one everyone has earmarked and I think he's good enough. If you see some of the other captains while they were young, maybe the first few years will be tough for them, but they'll grow into the job.

"I think maybe if Angelo gets the opportunity, the transition will be much easier for him because he'll have some of the more experienced guys around him in tough situations. We can build him through that period and after that he'll be on his own."

Five Test matches have been removed from Sri Lanka's schedule for next year, with their first assignment of 2013 a home series against Bangladesh. The Champions Trophy in England will follow - and an ODI tri-series in the West Indies and a visit to Pakistan.

"We don't have a lot of cricket next year - not many big tours. So it will be a nice easy start for Angelo if he takes over," concluded Jayawardene.