Sanath cries foul as Farbrace is tipped to jump camp
Sri Lanka’s National Coach Paul Farbrace was strongly tipped to be named into the England coaching team yesterday. If so Farbrace will become new England coach Peter Moores’ second-in-command.
Lankan chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya and Paul Farbrace during better times with the Lankan team - AFP
Moores’ appointment was confirmed by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) yesterday. But any news relating to Farbrace’s appointment did not surface from the ECB camp.
Moore was named by the ECB to replace Andy Flower who held the job till the Ashes whitewash they experienced Down Under in their last outing there. The 51-year-old who succeeded Flower and Farbrace were low-profile county wicketkeepers during their active days as players.
Farbrace impressed ECB bosses enough at the interview earlier this week to be the new number two.
However Farbrace who was Sri Lanka’s Assistant coach to Trevor Bayliss earlier was brought down mainly by the efforts of chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, after incumbent batting coach Marvan Atapattu was hotly tipped to take over the job from Graham Ford who quit at the end of 2013.
Nevertheless Farbrace vindicated the trust placed upon by the Lankans by being a part of the Lankan squad which won the Asia Cup and the T-20 World Cup within a month.
An upset Jayasuriya speaking from Singapore told the Sunday Times “We negotiated with Yorkshire and paid even his severance fees before getting Farbrace who was the XI coach there to become the head coach in Sri Lanka. “Now that he has made his credentials he has decided to move on without giving us adequate time to make the necessary adjustments. It’s not done by Sri Lanka cricket.”
Meanwhile it is learned that the SLC has communicated to the ECB that Sri Lanka would release Farbrace only after Sri Lankas tour of England as they feel that after sitting in the Lankan camp for six months it would be unfair for Farbrace to be a coach in the England camp while a tour was on.
It is also learned that Farbrace was given the contract till the end of the 2015 World Cup and while being interviewed he had made it clear to the Lankan board that he was free of encumbrances during that period. He was given the appointment with a six month probation period. Now Farbrace taking the six month clause as a tool had told the ECB that he could de-camp in June 2014.
Moores’s appointment will be a bitter pill for former England left arm spinner Ashley Giles, who had been earmarked as Flower’s successor when he was appointed to take charge of the one-day teams in September 2012.
Farbrace who flew back to Sri Lanka with the Cup Winning Sri Lanka team in the same flight, did not wait for the local celebrations but, boarded a flight to London direct from Katunayake saying that he would be back in one month. Farbrace earlier was also injured when the Lankan national team came under a terrorist attack in Lahore during a Test series in Pakistan in 2009.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka Cricket in a communiqué to the media said “Unfortunately, Paul Farbrace has not been in communication with SLC on this subject matter at this point of time. Efforts to contact Paul Farbrace, who is currently in England, have proved futile.
However, ECB has communicated to us their interest in considering Paul Farbrace to be recruited as one of their coaches. SLC have in no uncertain terms expressed it’s surprise and disappointment with regard to this development since Paul is on contract with SLC for a two year term (which includes a six month probation period) ending in December 2015 and particularly because the Sri Lanka national team will be touring England within the next few weeks. SLC is currently in communication with ECB, but however have informed them that we cannot pursue this matter further until Paul Farbrace establishes a dialogue with SLC since our contractual obligations are with the individual.