Sri Lanka tour of Australia: Rumesh Ratnayake interim coach – Sri Lanka Cricket has appointed Rumesh Ratnayake as the interim coach of the National Team for the upcoming Sri Lanka Tour of Australia. However, Paul Farbrace will take charge as the full-time coach from the India tour on a two-year contract as per reports. Follow AUS vs SL Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
But Rumesh Ratnayake will not travel with the team as he has tested positive for Covid-19 and is currently in isolation. He is expected to join the team ahead of the 1st T20 on February 11.
Sri Lanka tour of Australia: Rumesh Ratnayake appointed as interim coach, Paul Farbrace to take charge from India series
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Rumesh Ratnayake was appointed as the interim coach of the National Team for the upcoming Sri Lanka Tour of Australia.https://t.co/IIOFSbFjas
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) January 26, 2022
“He was appointed by the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket in consultation with the Technical Advisory Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket. Ratnayake will not travel to Australia with the team but will join before the 1st T20I game, as he is currently in self-isolation having tested positive for Covid 19,” SLC said in a statement.
Sri Lanka tour of Australia: Rumesh Ratnayake appointed as interim coach, Paul Farbrace to take charge from India series
Paul Farbrace to be head coach from India series – Meanwhile, as per a report in the Island Online, Englishman Paul Farbrace will be the head coach from the India tour. Farbrace has been roped in on a two-year contract after Mickey Arthur decided to part ways in December.
Farbrace isn’t a new face to Sri Lanka cricket having spent time as assistant coach to Trevor Bayliss in 2005. In 2014, he was appointed as the head coach and guided Sri Lanka to T20 World Cup title. However, he quit immediately after T20 World Cup to join Trevor Bayliss as England’s assistant coach.
Sri Lanka tour of Australia: Rumesh Ratnayake appointed as interim coach, Paul Farbrace to take charge from India series
Back in Sri Lanka, he will work with an all-Sri Lankan coaching staff apart from the fielding coach. As per reports, the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising former captains Kumar Sangakkara, Aravinda de Silva and Muttiah Muralitharan are in discussions with a New Zealander for the role.
Apart from Farbrace, former spinner Naveed Nawaz will join the coaching staff. Nawaz is currently the assistant coach of Bangladesh with a contract running till the end of 2022 but as per The Island, he is expected to be released soon.
Sri Lanka tour of Australia: Rumesh Ratnayake appointed as interim coach, Paul Farbrace to take charge from India series