Harsha De Silva has been appointed the head coach of the Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket team, effective from 15th August 2018.
De Silva takes over from Hemantha Devapriya who resigned in June citing personal reasons. Devapriya came under heavy criticism after Sri Lanka Women’s team lost to Thailand, India and Pakistan in the recently concluded Women’s Asia Cup in Malaysia.
Read : Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket Head Coach resigns
De Silva is no stranger to the role, having coached the team in the early 2010s, before he was forced to tender his resignation due to plans of migrating to Australia with his family. Under De Silva’s tenure, the Sri Lanka Women’s cricket team defeated India, England and South Africa at the 2013 Women’s World Cup to finish fifth, which is by far the best achievement in the country’s history in women’s cricket.
De Silva also guided St. Joseph’s College for over a decade as the team produced players such Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Dimuth Karunarathne, Roshen Silva and Sadeera Samarawickrama.
Even though he did not represent the country at any level, De Silva is a level three accredited coach and has coached a few domestic clubs in Brisbane, Australia.
His latest appointment is effective for two years.
