Over the past weekend, South African born Graham Ford stepped down from the role of head coach of the Sri Lanka Cricket team, 15 months into his 3-year contract.

Over the past 7 years (2011-present) Sri Lanka have employed 8 head coaches (both permanent and interim) over 9 stints. In comparison, South Africa, Australia and India, the three teams at the top of ICC’s ODI and Test rankings have had 2, 3 and 5 coaches respectively during the same period.

Here’s a look at the 8 men and their time spent with Sri Lanka Cricket.

Trevor Bayliss (August 2007 – April 2011)

Bayliss Image Courtesy of AFP
Image Courtesy of AFP

Bayliss succeeded the much-loved Tom Moody in 2007 with his first assignment being to lead the team into the World T20 in the same year; Sri Lanka made it past the group stage but were knocked out in the Super Eight stage of the tournament. Bayliss’ first bilateral series was against Australia in Australia where Sri Lanka went down 2-0 in the Tests to the hosts. His first series win came against the English at home when Sri Lanka clinched the three match Test series 1-0.

Bayliss had a relatively successful 4-year stint as coach and under his guidance, Sri Lanka enjoyed a win ratio of better than 50 percent and were ranked third in Test cricket and fourth in one-day internationals for a period. Highlights of his tenure include the 2008 Asia Cup win and finishing as runners up at the 2009 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup.

Upon his departure in 2011, Bayliss, speaking to AFP said “Good teams like Australia usually have got strong or good management backing the team up. That’s an area in which we can improve here. I am constantly amazed how well the players do [on the field], with all the distractions put in front of them. It seems to be the subcontinent way. That’s a skill in itself. These days a captain has to deal with issues that sometimes have got nothing to do with cricket.” – a clear indication that a problem with outside interference had been prevalent for many years.

Stuart Law (May 2011 – June 2011)

Law Image Courtesy of AFP
Image Courtesy of AFP

Former Australian batsman Stuart Law had functioned as assistant coach to Bayliss from the year 2009 and was entrusted with the responsibilities of interim head coach for the tour of England with the departure of Bayliss in April 2011. He took over at a period of great upheaval in Sri Lanka Cricket with both Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene resigning as Captain and Vice-Captain after the 2011 World Cup. During the tour Sri Lanka lost the Test series 1-0, the ODI series 3-2 and won the only T20I against hosts England.

Rumesh Ratnayake (July 2011 – August 2011)

Image Courtesy of ESPNCricinfo
Image Courtesy of ESPNCricinfo

Law was the coach for the tour of England but subsequent to him being named Coach of Bangladesh, the position was yet again left vacant. Former fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake was then appointed as Interim Coach for Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in August by the interim committee headed by Upali Dharmadasa. The series was a poor one for the hosts as they went down in both the ODI and Test series’, 2-3 and 0-1, respectively. Their only consolation came from winning the two T20Is in Pallekelle.

Geoff Marsh (September 2011 – January 2012)

Image Courtesy of AFP
Image Courtesy of AFP

One of the more pedigreed coaches to have taken up the role at SLC, Geoff Marsh was expected to do wonders for the national team upon being appointed Head Coach in September 2011, however his stint lasted just 4 months. Marsh is no ordinary man. He had won the Ashes and the World Cup both as a player and coach. When he took over the role he was keen to extend his two year contract which was to end in 2013 in the hope of helping Sri Lanka to a World Cup win as he had done with Australia in 1999 however was replaced by Graham Ford as a result of a major shakeup at SLC in January 2012. Sri Lanka lost three and won one of the five Tests they played during Marsh’s tenure. The sole win was historic as it was the nation’s 1st ever Test win in South Africa. Marsh went on to file legal action against SLC for wrongful termination of his contract and reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the board.

The manner in which the matter was handled also had an impact on prospective candidates. Former Australian wicketkeeper Steve Rixon, someone who SLC had approached for the job is quoted to have said to The Island “What happened with Geoff Marsh would have been one of the things that played on my mind,” when asked if he would consider taking up the position of Head Coach.

Graham Ford – 1st stint (January 2012 – December 2013)

Image Courtesy of AFP
Image Courtesy of AFP

Graham Ford was appointed coach in January 2012, replacing Geoff Marsh. Like the man he replaced, Ford came into the Sri Lankan set up with a rich pedigree of coaching and assisting with some top teams.

Ford’s first assignment was a tri-series in Australia which featured India as well. Sri Lanka fared extremely well, ultimately losing the 3 match final series to Australia 2-1. His greatest achievement during the period was perhaps the runner-up finish at the World T20 2012, where Sri Lanka fell ever so close to their 1st T20 title. During his tenure Sri Lanka managed just 4 wins in Tests, losing 5 and drawing 4 games.

At the end of 2013, Ford declined an offer to extend his stint and returned to England to take over at Surrey Cricket Club, where he served until his return to Sri Lanka in 2016.

Paul Farbrace (January 2014 – April 2014)

Image Courtesy of AFP
Image Courtesy of AFP

Paul Farbrace was appointed as Head Coach with effect from January 2014 but did not last long in the role, despite taking Sri Lanka to their first World title (2014 World T20) since the 1996 World Cup. Farbrace was a little over three months into his two-year contract with SLC when tendered his resignation, after being offered a position at the ECB, with significantly better pay and a desire to work in the country of his birth believed to be the reasons behind his decision. Sri Lanka lost only one out of 18 matches under his watch, winning the World T20 and Asia Cup in that time.

Marvan Atapattu (April 2014 – September 2015)

Image Courtesy of AFP
Image Courtesy of AFP

With Farbrace leaving just a few months into his 2-year contract, Sri Lanka were left in the lurch and were forced to turn to assistant coach Atapattu, who had been considered initially for the role that ultimately went to Farbrace. He took over officially as Head Coach in September 2014, and was the team’s first local coach in 15 years.

During his time in charge, Sri Lanka won its first Test series in England in 16 years, with a 1-0 win in its 2014 tour, one of Sri Lanka’s most memorable tours in the recent past. After consecutive Test series defeats against Pakistan and India, he resigned in September 2015 with neither the board nor Atapattu revealing the reason behind his decision.

Jerome Jayaratne (September 2015 – December 2015)

Image Courtesy of AFP
Image Courtesy of AFP

Jayaratne was appointed as interim coach just 4 days after Atapattu’s decision to call it quits. He was appointed SLC’s head of coaching in 2008, a role that did not extend to the national team coached at the time by Trevor Bayliss. The interim appointment came ahead of plans to recruit either South African Graham Ford or Sri Lankan Chandika Hathurusinghe.

Graham Ford – 2nd stint (January 2016 – June 2017)

Ford-2
@ThePapare.com

Graham Ford came back for his 2nd stint at SLC leaving his position as head coach of English county side Surrey who he led to a 2nd division championship during the previous season. His contract was to expire at the end of the 2019 World Cup in England. Despite disappointing results during his 15 months in charge, Sri Lanka achieved one of its greatest ever feats during that time, whitewashing the No. 1 ranked Test team in the World, Australia, at home last year.

Despite being lauded by past and present cricketers as being a master at his craft, trouble began brewing for Ford when SLC appointed Asanka Gurusinha as Cricket Manager. With Ford seemingly  answerable to Gurusinha, many foresaw what ultimately came to pass with regards to Ford’s resignation.

Former Test batsman, Sidath Wettimuny is one such player. Speaking to The Sunday Times he said, “I see some worrying signs now. I have the greatest respect for Asanka Gurusinha as a batsman [but] I was at the Dambulla match (during Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka) and I see him in the middle of the ground talking to Sanath Jayasuriya and two players. I did not see the coach anywhere! I see a problem there. You see, you got a coach and you got a cricket manager, I do not know whether the functions of these two are defined clearly. The way I see it – I am just guessing – Graham Ford won’t last long. He is going to be an unhappy man, if he is going to see somebody else taking cricketing decisions.”

As expected, not long after returning home after their group stage exit from the Champions Trophy, Ford handed in his resignation, with unacceptable intrusions into team matters by the board being widely accepted as the main reason behind his exit.

With Ford gone, Sri Lanka have had to turn to yet another temporary solution to the coaching problem, appointing Nic Pothas, who was originally recruited as the team’s fielding coach, taking up the position of Interim Coach. Sri Lanka are on the lookout for a new coach, but with the kind of track record the SLC has, will anyone be willing to take up the job?