Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Executive Committee has decided to remove Chandika Hathurusingha as the head coach of the national team ahead of the upcoming New Zealand series, ThePapare.com reliably learns.
Jerome Jayaratne, SLC Chief Operating Officer, is set to be named as interim coach for this tour as the hunt for Hathurusingha’s replacement continues. Jayaratne held this same position for nearly four months in 2015.
Sri Lanka Cricket Coaching Staff issue takes a new turn
Former Sri Lankan all-rounder, Hathurusingha, who officially commenced work in December 2017, signing a three-year contract until 2020. However, SLC is believed to have come to a final decision to terminate his contract in the coming days. Reports suggest that Hathurusingha is prepared to take legal action against SLC after both parties were unable to come to an amicable agreement on his contract.
Following Graham Ford’s sudden exit, SLC gave into everything Hathurusingha wanted when penning down his contract, resulting in him becoming the highest paid head coach in the history of Sri Lanka Cricket. However, earlier this year, unhappy with the team’s progress, SLC sought to clip his wings by removing him from his role as selector-on-tour.
Sports Minister asks national team coaching staff to step down
After Hathurusingha took over as Head Coach, Sri Lanka recorded wins in six Test matches out of 16, while losing seven games. Perhaps the biggest high of Hathurusingha’s tenure came when Sri Lanka shocked the world to defeat South Africa 2-0 away from home. However, in white-ball cricket, Sri Lanka never quite hit their stride under Hathurusingha.
| Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | |
| Tests | 16 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| ODIs | 39 | 14 | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| T20Is | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
*Chandika Hathurusingha’s record as Sri Lanka Head Coach from 1st January 2018 to 31st July 2019
After Sri Lanka failed to make it into the semi-finals of the World Cup, finishing 6th overall, Minister of Sports, Harin Fernando requested a complete overhaul in the coaching staff after the recently concluded Bangladesh ODI series.
Last Friday, SLC officially requested for more time (24 hours) to carry out the Minister’s directive. However, since SLC were unable to agree on terms in their renegotiation with Hathurusingha, the Sports Minister has written to SLC to remove Hathurusingha from his post as Head Coach for the New Zealand tour, which is set to commence on the 14th of this month.
“I never asked SLC to sack him, I wanted them to renegotiate the terms of his contract. It is unfair for him to demand to compensate for the rest of his contract despite not bringing results as expected, “ Harin Fernando, Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister said on Monday (5th August).
With Hathurusingha’s time coming to an end, he is expected to return to Bangladesh, where he enjoyed tremendous success from 2014 to 2017. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) recently showed interest in recruiting him once again as Head Coach.
Since 2011, Sri Lanka have had 11 head coaches including a few interim appointments. As the SLC Secretary Mohan De Silva accepted during his speech last month before the Bangladesh series, SLC is infamous for their ‘Hire & Fire’ approach when it comes to coaching staff.
Sri Lanka will host New Zealand for two Tests and three T20Is from 14th August to 6th September.
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