Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga says he is disappointed with Paul Farbrace’s decision to end his tenure with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) after a mere five months into the contract.
Farbrace yesterday told SLC that he wished to move back to England to take up a coaching position with England and Wales Cricket Board, where he is expected to be deputy to Head Coach Peter Moores.
“I am disappointed with what Paul has done, but on the other side there were loopholes in his contract. Paul came to Sri Lanka before his contract with Yorkshire expired. SLC had to compensate for Yorkshire to the tune of millions of rupees. However, that compensation should have been paid by Paul. Now, he has left us high and dry,” Ranatunga told ‘The Island’ yesterday.
“I see a weakness in management to be honest. Those who sat on the panel that headhunt the coach lacked practical knowledge,” Ranatunga added.
“The Big Three has been promising us that the game’s future will be in good hands once they have the control. Even before the control has been handed to them one of the Big Three has highjacked the coach and I fear for the worst when they get the power,” Ranatunga further said.
“Some of these foreign coaches come here to get their CV right. Once they get the CV done they are always on the lookout. I feel that we have some of the finest coaches, but they hardly get the credit for the hard work they do. That’s sad. During my playing days some of the finest coaches we had were Sir Gary Sobers and Roy Dias. Sir Gary was in a league of his own while Roy was brilliant with technical input, but Roy’s problem was that he wasn’t a good actor,” Ranatunga said.Fans angered by Mahela Sanga probe Cricket fans were angered yesterday following Sri Lanka Cricket’s decision to refer the statements’ made by star cricketers, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, on their return home from the World T-20 to the Board Disciplinary Committee.
Angry fans criticized the move in social media – Facebook and Twitter while former board officials and parliamentarians too criticized the move.
With SLC attracting a lot of criticism, the board’s Vice President Mohan de Silva told a television channel that the board wasn’t doing a witch-hunt on the two iconic cricketers.
“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that the SLC Executive Committee which met last evening has decided to refer the unsubstantiated statements made by Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara at the Press Conference held at the Airport on the 8th of April 2014, to the Disciplinary Committee for their views and recommendations on same,” an SLC media release said.
