SL in ‘difficult place’ after Farbrace exit

Friday, 25 April 2014 04:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Atapattu set to take charge for England tour ESPNCricinfo: Sri Lanka have been rendered “helpless” by Paul Farbrace’s sudden exit, weeks from their biggest overseas tour of the year, Chief Selector Sanath Jayasuriya has said. Sri Lanka depart for assignments in Ireland and England in two weeks, and Jayasuriya suggested Marvan Atapattu would be interim head coach for those series, with SLC left with too little time to name a permanent replacement.

New Women’s Team Captain appointed

At the meeting of the Selection Committee held it was decided to appoint Ms.Chamari Athapathu as the Captain of the Sri Lanka Womens’ National Team, and Ms. Udeshika Prabodhini as the Vice Captain of the Sri Lanka Womens’ National Team with immediate effect.

Jayasuriya played a key role in signing Farbrace in December, and his selection committee had been set to work closely with Farbrace to bring through a young group of players, in preparation for major retirements on the horizon. Farbrace was offered a role with England last week and resigned from his position with Sri Lanka on Tuesday. “Unfortunately we are in a pretty difficult place right now,” Jayasuriya told the BBC’s Sinhala service. “We had to face this problem just as the England tour was set to begin. We are thinking hard about what can be done. Marvan will have a lot of responsibility at this time and the bowling and fielding coaches will also have to bear a lot of responsibility.

“At the moment we won’t be able to find a coach quickly, and SLC is in a bit of a helpless state. But these things happen in sport and they happen in life. We’ll treat it as an experience, and hopefully the players will be able to turn this into something positive. I trust that they can do that.” There were rumours Farbrace had encountered issues with delays in pay during his 15-week tenure with Sri Lanka, and the past three months had also been characterised by upheaval around the team, thanks largely to a contracts dispute between the board and the players. Jayasuriya, however, said the board was clear of blame for his exit.

Farbrace Named England Assistant Coach

REUTERS: Paul Farbrace has been appointed England assistant coach, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday. Former Sri Lanka coach Farbrace will work alongside new Director of Cricket Peter Moores. The 46-year-old led Sri Lanka to this year’s Asia Cup and the World Twenty20 title in Bangladesh, the

country’s first global trophy since 1996. “It’s fantastic to be given the opportunity to work with your own country’s national team and this was an offer that I could not turn down - much as I have enjoyed working with the Sri Lankan players and sharing in their recent success,” Farbrace said. England play home test series against Sri Lanka and India this year. “We have a lot of work to do in a short time as we prepare for the fast-approaching international season,” Moores said. “There is no doubt Paul will bring a lot of recent international experience to the England set-up.” Andy Flower stepped down as England’s director of cricket in January following the team’s 5-0 Ashes defeat in Australia.

“I don’t believe those things. Sometimes there are bank delays because of holidays and weekends,” Jayasuriya said. “As far as I know there were no serious issues like that, and as far as I know, there were also no problems between Paul and the board. We had tried to make him feel at home here. Maybe not everything was 100%, but they were all things that could be discussed and resolved. “We’re always ready to point the finger at the board, but even when I was playing there were always little issues within the organisation. But these things are readily discussed and sorted out.”