The appointment of Graham Ford as head coach of the Sri Lanka national cricket team was officially announced at a media gathering held on Tuesday at the SLC Headquarters.
Hon. Thilanga Sumathipala, President of Sri Lanka Cricket, made his comments regarding the appointment, “For us to find Graham was quite an effort, simply because all the good coaches are engaged in various assignments. I am delighted and happy that Surrey Cricket Club agreed to release Graham Ford to Sri Lanka. I must say that Kumar Sangakkara, who is playing at Surrey, assisted me in securing a person of Graham’s caliber.”
CLICK FOR PHOTOS – Graham Ford’s Appointment – Press Conference
The 55-year old Graham Ford, who officially began his tenure on the 1st of February, is contracted for 45 months – until the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and his main objective will be to transform the young Sri Lanka team to a consistent outfit that could win the World Cup.
“I really believe that there is no other group of players that play with such passion and have such good cricketing attitude. I am extremely honoured that the Sri Lanka Cricket board has shown faith in my coaching abilities. I am very aware what a huge challenge it is. I think Sri Lanka cricket finds itself in a very early stage of a very important rebuilding phase. A lot of hard work needs to be done. I think it is very important that this rebuilding phase is done on an extremely solid foundation. So patience is important.” Ford said during the Press Conference on his second coming to Sri Lanka.
Under his reign, Surrey were promoted to the First Division of the County Championship in 2014 and reached the final of the Royal London One Day Cup in the following season. He was also instrumental in bringing Kevin Pietersen and Kumar Sangakkara to the club. “Leaving Surrey was difficult but to take up a big challenge and an important position in Sri Lanka was a decision I had to make.” Ford said.
Thilanga Sumathipala also mentioned that Lasith Malinga has been officially named the Sri Lanka T20 Captain for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and ICC World T20 in India during March/April, while Angelo Mathews was named Vice-Captain of the team.
Wicket-keeper batsman, Dinesh Chandimal will lead the Sri Lanka T20 team in the three-match series in India as both Malinga and Mathews are unavailable for selection due to injury.
“I believe that experience is what the players do in the middle. I think at least 7 or 8 game-changers should be included in a T20 team, who can win a match on their own.” Sri Lanka T20 skipper Malinga said.
“As a team, we would like to thank Sri Lanka Cricket for securing Graham Ford’s appointment. He is a brilliant man manager, one of the best coaches around and we are really lucky to have him.” Sri Lanka ODI and Test captain Angelo Mathews said.
During Ford’s previous two-year stint in Sri Lanka from 2012-14, Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan to win their first Test series in 3 years and also reached the final of the World T20.
