My priority is to take Sri Lanka to top of the tree in world cricket – Kirsten

Sri Lanka men’s cricket team’s new head coach Gary Kirsten addresses the media in the presence of Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva

• “The kind of players Sri Lanka has doesn’t match up to their rankings”

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

After a considerable period, Sri Lanka cricket has secured a top-quality coach to handle the national team in the form of Gary Kirsten, whose proven record speaks for itself, having guided India to win the 2011 Cricket World Cup, beating Sri Lanka in the final, and having taken his native South Africa to the top of the ICC Test rankings. 

Over the years, Sri Lanka has had some outstanding coaches from overseas, starting with Dav Whatmore, followed by Tom Moody, Trevor Bayliss and Graham Ford, among others, who have taken the country to dizzy heights in the world of cricket. 

Gary Kirsten, who has begun a two-year stint with Sri Lanka Cricket, belongs to this category, although he has just started his journey to resurrect the national team from its present low status in all three formats. Sri Lanka are currently ranked 6th in Tests and ODIs and 8th in T20Is. 

“To take them to the top of the tree in world cricket, that would absolutely be my priority and certainly something that we would work towards,” said Kirsten at his maiden meeting with the Sri Lankan media at SLC headquarters yesterday. 

“I would certainly, and I'm sure everyone that's a stakeholder in Sri Lankan cricket would like to see the team at the top of the pile. So for me, my priority is to work out what is required for that to happen, because I don't see any shortage of talent and depth in Sri Lankan cricket. Certainly, in the time that I've been here, I think there's a lot of good players around. So it kind of doesn't match up that the rankings are where they are, but we'll head in the right direction. With good players, you can do a lot. So I'm excited about that journey.” 

“I'm here to help Sri Lankan cricket. My job is to come here and make this team a really good cricket team. So I'm just part of the process. And I need to understand the culture really well, understand what makes the players tick, and understand the environment. So I've got a lot of learning to do as I go through this journey. I'm here for five weeks before we play our first match. So that's quite exciting, to get to know how the environment operates.” 

Sri Lanka’s first international engagement under Kirsten will be the three-match ODI series against West Indies in the Caribbean, starting on 3 June. 

However, Kirsten will have the full complement of players available to him only two or three days before the first ODI, as most of them are currently playing franchise cricket in India and Pakistan, some for the Sri Lanka ‘A’ side against New Zealand ‘A’, and others in the NSL four-day tournament. 

“Yeah, it’s not easy and not the first time I've experienced this where players are just so busy and they're on the road a lot. But we do what we can. You try to adapt because that's what international cricket requires and make it work as best you can,” said Kirsten. 

“Try and create opportunities to meet up with players where the opportunities are. To be honest with you, I prefer guys to be in competition and playing matches. I always think that's the best form of preparation that you can have. So, to have a group of players that are match-ready by the time we play the first ODI against West Indies, I'm happy with it.” 

Continuing, Kirsten said, “We'll kind of work through our environment and understand what is required within the environment as we go along. But I think this period now is just good preparation time for me to get to know the ins and outs of Sri Lankan cricket, watch some of the younger players playing, and really just to understand the depth of the game here, and spend time learning that. Spending time in the offices, meeting everyone. In fact, in all the coaching opportunities that I've had around the world, I've generally had about 10 days' preparation before we play the first game. So this time I've got six weeks. That's pretty cool.” 

At the end of the press conference, Kirsten travelled to Galle yesterday to witness the second four-day unofficial Test between Sri Lanka ‘A’ and New Zealand ‘A’. 

An important aspect for success is the player-coach communication barrier, which is often present, especially with a foreign coach. 

“I've worked across a lot of different cultures and countries, so I have a bit of experience in that space,” said Kirsten. “The one thing I do find is that English, as a kind of medium of communication, works quite well in cricket, because we use a lot of English words when we talk about cricket. Also, if the players have got something to say about me, they can talk in their own language and that's fine. But generally, if we're trying to move in the same direction, there are things that we all understand when it comes to the game of cricket. So we will work through that.” 

“If there are communication issues, we can translate, we can get messaging across. Communication is not only necessarily just talking to people, it's also how you spend time with them, how you care about their game, and how you want to help them progress and get better. So I'm mindful of coming into the Sri Lankan space and trying to take control and dominate the space.”