New coach Ford gets two year deal

Friday, 27 January 2012 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Charith Senanayake new manager for Aussie tour

COLOMBO (Reuters): Sri Lanka have sacked coach Geoff Marsh and appointed South African Graham Ford on a two-year contract, a Sri Lanka cricket official said on Thursday.

“Ford has signed a two-year contract and his first assignment is to take the team to Australia for the Commonwealth Bank one-day series,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Ford is the third coach Sri Lanka have employed since Trevor Bayliss quit after leading them to the 50-over World Cup final last year.

Ford, 51, resigned early last week as head coach of the Durban-based franchise Dolphins stating he wanted to “follow my dreams of involvement at an international level”.

He was South African coach from 1999 to 2001 before moving to English county Kent as director of cricket in 2004. In 2006 he returned to South Africa to take charge of the Dolphins. Marsh, a former Australian opener and coach, signed a two-year deal to coach Sri Lanka in September but oversaw just two tours against Pakistan and South Africa which both ended in defeat. “Marsh had a meeting with Sri Lanka Cricket officials and was told that his services were no longer required. Sri Lanka Cricket thanked Marsh for his services,” the official said.

The decision to change coaches follows the switch of captain earlier this week when Mahela Jayawardene was appointed after Tillakaratne Dilshan resigned. The newly elected cricket board have also replaced manager Anura Tennekoon with Charith Senanayake for the Australian tour.