Sanath the coach and Sri Lanka Cricket

In the aftermath of the national cricket team’s dismal performance during the T20 World Cup, Sanath Jayasuriya tendered his resignation from the coveted coaching role. His coaching tenure evokes mixed sentiments, and it would not be unfair to state that there was no visible advancement in the performance of the side under his guidance.

People justified the selection of Jayasuriya as coach on the basis of communication gaps that could arise by the presence of foreign coaches. However, historically, the Sri Lankan cricket team tasted most of its success under the guidance of foreign coaches like Tom Moody, Dav Whatmore, Paul Farbrace, John Dyson, etc.

The selection of Jayasuriya to the highly responsible position itself was dubious at the very outset because the former Sri Lankan Captain was banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2019 from all cricket-related activities for two years after he had admitted breaching two counts of the ICC’s anti-corruption code. The outgoing coach admitted the allegations of failing to cooperate with an investigation into corruption apart from delaying or obstructing the inquiry.  It is well known that not every successful sportsman can replicate the same level of success as a coach. Coaching requires a different set of skills, and the former cricketer-turned politician has no coaching credentials to speak of. Neither had he followed any formal course or program related to coaching nor did he possess any prior coaching experience even at club level before taking up the challenging task.

It should be recalled that the downfall of Sri Lankan cricket coincided with the former Matara District MP becoming Chairman of the Cricket Selection Committee in 2016. His disastrous tenure as Chief Selector was characterised by lack of strategic thinking, indecisiveness, and favouritism. Ramith Rambukwella - who gained notoriety for mistakenly attempting to open a cabin door of a British Airways aircraft, thinking it was the door to the toilet - played only 2 international T20 encounters and he got both those opportunities when Jayasuriya headed the Selection Committee. The latter was accused of favouring the son of a then powerful politician while depriving the chances of deserving, talented cricketers. 

One of the defining features of his coaching stint was his preference to play one-day matches and T20 games in highly spin-friendly, turning pitches (which critics termed as paddy fields) whenever overseas teams travelled to the island. Experts and observes vehemently disapproved Jayasuriya’s tactic as it was not aiding Sri Lankan cricketers to improve their skills. The former opening batsman insisted local pitch curators to arrange sub-standard pitches to gain a rather unethical upper hand over the rival teams. No former Sri Lankan coach was ever known for interfering with local pitch curators to fix doctored pitches to achieve victories. Such lopsided tactics sometimes backfired and became counter-productive as our own batsmen struggled to score runs on surfaces that overly favoured spin bowlers as evident by the 3-0 loss suffered against England during the T20 series early this year.

Jayasuriya’s association with Sri Lankan cricket, both as a selector and coach, was detrimental to the cause of the most popular sport in the island. Yet, the Shammi Silva-led cricket administration has decided to appoint Jayasuriya as head of Sri Lanka Cricket’s High-Performance Centre – a critical pillar in the development and progress of cricketing talent in the country. Why a person with very limited coaching credentials should be given such a pivotal responsibility? The best interest of the game in the country would be served by obtaining the services of individuals with proven coaching credentials instead of relying on big names who maintain their egos through a personal network of influencers in social media.