The position of Head Coach at Sri Lanka Cricket is no longer an appealing one as over the last 7-8 years, Sri Lanka has employed 9 different coaches.
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With several question marks raised over Sri Lanka’s competitiveness in recent past, ThePapare.com has put together a list of potential candidates for the position.
1 Nic Pothas
The current interim coach, Nic Pothas was appointed when Graham Ford resigned following Sri Lanka’s group-stage exit from the Champions Trophy 2017. Under Pothas, Sri Lanka lost to Zimbabwe 3-2 in ODIs, won the solitary Test match against the same opposition and were comprehensively beaten in all 9 matches against India. SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala stated that Pothas is a ‘front-runner’ to take on a more long-term role as head coach despite the South African being a fielding coach by trade.
2 Mahela Jayawaredene
Former Sri Lankan Captain is new to coaching yet under his guidance, cash-rich Mumbai Indians won their 3rd IPL title earlier this year. Jayawardene has worked as a consultant for England in the past and was named as the head coach of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) side Khulna Titans for the next two seasons. Due to Sri Lanka’s poor performances recently, many fans, cricket pundits, ex-players and stakeholders have put their hopes on Jayawardene to take up the role of head coach for Sri Lanka.
3 Dean Jones
Currently working as a commentator, Dean Jones coached the title-winning Islamabad franchise side in the inaugural Pakistan Super League in 2016. He was reported to have been approached for the job by the SLC administrators during the recently-concluded Zimbabwe home series. The former Australian batsman, had also applied to coach Pakistan twice in the past.
4 Marvan Atapattu
Despite several foreign coaches being paid the big money, they have failed to deliver the goods for Sri Lanka Cricket in the recent past. Due to being a local and knowing the team culture, Marvan Atapattu’s name has resurfaced in relation to the Coaching position. He has previously coached Sri Lanka and under his charge, the team won its first Test series in England in 16 years, with a 1-0 win in 2014. He resigned from the post in 2015 due to undivulged reasons.
5 Paul Nixon
The current Jamaica Tallawahs head coach in the Caribbean Premier League, Paul Nixon is reported to have applied for the head coach position. The former wicket-keeper batsman played 19 ODIs and a single T20 International for England and also coached Leicestershire in 2011.
6 Tom Moody
Tom Moody previously coached Sri Lanka for two years from 2005-2007, where he guided the island nation to the ICC World Cup final in 2007. The former Australian all-rounder has had extensive coaching experience in England and Australia, and has been the head coach of the IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad since 2012. Under Moody, the team won its maiden IPL title in 2016.
7 Pierre de Bruyn
Former South African first-class player, Pierre de Bruyn recently resigned from his head coach role at Leicestershire and has hinted at moving in for a bigger challenge. Under the 40-year old’s guidance, Leicestershire reached the T20 Blast quarter-finals and finished sixth in the One-Day Cup North Group, with three wins in eight games. He had been promoted from his position as assistant skills coach, having initially joined the club before the start of the 2016 season.
8 Stephen Fleming
Former New Zealand captain Stephan Fleming has coached IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings in the past where they won successive IPL titles in 2010 and 2011 as well as the Champions League in 2010 before working with Rising Pune Supergiants during the past two years. Fleming represented New Zealand in 111 Tests and 280 ODIS scoring over 15,000 runs in both formats.
