Hunt for assistant coach begins

The Chairman of SLC Interim Committee Jayantha Dharmadasa and the Chief Executive of SLC Duleep Mendis will represent Sri Lanka at the Annual ICC Meetings in London this week.The ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) will begin today at the Lord's Cricket Ground.

The two-day CEC meeting will make decisions on a range of matters relating to the playing of cricket as well as recommendations on the business of cricket for consideration by the ICC Board, which will meet over two days on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 June.

The ICC Board will discuss a host of issues, including the appointment of a Vice-President to take over from current President Ray Mali at Annual Conference 2008, and matters surrounding Zimbabwe including its possible return to Test cricket in November. The ICC's Annual Conference takes place in the Long Room, followed by a Members' Forum.

On Sri Lanka’s part, they will be seeking for some redress regarding the loss occurred to them when the touring South African team aborted their ODI leg of the tour in 2006. They either will look for re-schedule of the ODI series or else seek for compensation against the loss.

Rumesh Ratnayake,the former Sri Lanka Medium pacer who was to be appointed as the Country’s Assistant Coach pulled out citing Personal reasons.Ratnayake initially agreed to take up the appointment following discussions with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) earlier this month and was expected to sign a four year contract in September.

Commenting on the aftermath of the pullout the Interim Committee Vice President, K. Mathivanan said “It’s a big disappointment for us to hear this. Rumesh told us that it was personal and due to Family matters that he has to decline the position, now we have to be on the hunt again. Trevor Bayliss who signed as the head coach is a batting specialist and we must have a good balance at the top. So we would be looking for a person who would be very strong in the fielding and bowling departments. It is good if we could find a local person who could fit into that slot, but, I doubt if there would be a local coach who could fit into that dual role.”