Ford drives around concerns over job security
There were many twists in the tale of coaches. Geoff Marsh, Marvan Atapattu, Chandika Hathurusinghe and Nishantha Ranatunga
At one point of time, many people were more than convinced that ‘home grown’ was the solution to a lot of ills in the country’s international cricket.
Their argument was Lankan cricket is no more an elitist game and more than 95 per cent of the local talent are vernacular and when a young cricketer is confronted with a foreigner the levels of translation from thought to action may differ.
At the same time they also argue that Sri Lanka at some point should create its own oasis of coaching so that retiring greats could have an afterlife.
Yes, at the initial stages of our international mission, the Lankan cricket was shepherded through a home grown system. And at that time, Sri Lanka cricket could not afford to have such luxuries as a foreign coach.
But, it was Ana Punchihewa who first mooted the idea of a professional coach with an international flavour in 1995 and as a result Australian coach Davenell Whatmore stepped on to his land of birth.
Now the current hot topic is the re-employment of the 55-year-old South African coach Graham Ford. He has opted to leave his comfortable nest at the English county Surrey and decided to make a comeback to the Lankan fold – a job that he opted not to re-negotiate just about three months before Sri Lankans won their ICC World Cup T-20 title a little more than a year ago.
Under Ford, Surrey just won the English County Championship this year. Ford took over as the coach of the Sri Lankan team after Geoff Marsh was sacked in 2011.
That too was a controversial transaction where the Lankan management ended paying a huge sum as compensation to the former Australian opening batsman!
Then, a year prior to that, Chandika Haturusinghe, the former Sri Lanka Test opener and one-time shadow coach of the Sri Lanka team, also a close contender to take full charge of the Lankan mantle, decided to emigrate to Australia after he was suspended by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on disciplinary grounds.
I wonder when one reads between the lines, if by chance there were sinister moves being fashioned by a powerful individual or a group to groom and nurture a choice of their won on a future date.
Blooding Sri Lanka talent along with foreign expertise came into focus along with the advent of Chandika Haturusinghe coming in as ‘A’ team coach and then elevated as the Lankan shadow coach to Trevor Bayliss.
Haturusinghe was immensely popular among the national cricketers and when he was asked to pack his bags up it was none other than the Lankan batting ace Kumar Sangakkara who advised the Lankan management to rethink their decision.
The coaches may have had their own niggles in their approach and practice, but, by the time Ford decided to end his contract, finding a replacement became an arduous task.
Finally, Englishman Paul Farbrace made his to move to join the Lankans and it was a magic move for him. With hardly an input from Farbrace the Lankans won the ICC T-20 title – a job which was more fashioned by Graham Ford rather than anybody else. Along with that accolade, Sri Lanka had also won a series against Bangladesh and the Asia Cup.
At the same time there was another development that was taking place. Though Haturusinghe was sent packing by the Lankan cricket administration, the home grown concept was still alive.
It was during this time former national cricket captain Marvan Atapattu joined the fray. He first came into the Lankan cricket management in April 2011, after the World Cup.
He was appointed as the batting coach of the national team and joined interim coach Stuart Law, fast bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake and fielding coach Ruwan Kalpage for the tour of England that year. When Ford took over the responsibility as Lankan coach, Atapattu was an integral part of the set up.
After Ford’s departure, the then SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and company became a prime mover of the thought that Atapattu should be Sri Lankas home grown coach.
It was revealed last week by none other than the new SLC President, Thilanga Sumathipala, that Ford had concerns about the stability of the administration. As a result Ford’s contract is spread over 45 months and it will go up to Sri Lankas 2019 ICC World Cup pursuit in England.
Yet, there were two lobbies. The then SLC President Jayantha Dharmadasa always backed the foreign coach concept, while the more vibrant Ranatunga faction backed the home grown.
The Atapattu faction aimed at the position after Ford, but, the job was entrusted with Paul Farbrace. Atapattu was promoted to the post of an assistant coach. Following Farbrace’s early unexpected exit in 2014, Atapattu was appointed as interim head coach.
Incidentally it was during this period, Sri Lanka won its first Test series in England in 16 years. This paved the way for Atapattu to officially take over as Head Coach in September 2014. Thus he became the team’s first local coach in 15 years.
Ironically, another 5–2 ODI series win during England’s 2014 tour of Sri Lanka was the only series win for Sri Lanka after Atapattu formally took over.
The Lankans lost a series against New Zealand and made an exit in the quarter-final of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. This was followed by two consecutive Test series defeats against Pakistan and India and Atapattu resigned in September 2015.
It is against this backdrop that Ford made his second coming to Lankan coaching last week. One of his prime concerns during the negotiations with the Sumathipala administration was job security.
It was revealed last week by none other than the new SLC President, Thilanga Sumathipala, that Ford had concerns about the stability of the administration. As a result Ford’s contract is spread over 45 months and it will go up to Sri Lankas 2019 ICC World Cup pursuit in England.
Ford who looks a person, who prefers to think on his feet, said that he wished to work closely with SLC’s head of coaching Jerome Jayaratne, who did a short stint as Interim Coach. With his years of experience at the coaching department, Jayaratne could be ideal fodder for Ford’s quest.
Yesterday, both Ford and Jayaratne together with the Lankan team took wings to India to take part in the three-match T20 series which is scheduled to be held from February 9 to 15. It is hoped that during this tour, Ford may be able to assess the worth of his association with Jayaratne.
Last week, SLC President Sumathipala met former national captains – Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya and Hashan Tillekeratne to discuss ways of how the SLC could help the threesome to take the game forward. We learn there were positive vibes and we should hear more about it in the coming days.
Nevertheless now it is clear that the mishandling of sensitive issues like coaching has taken the game back and has set in a sense of confusion and mistrust among the ranks especially during this vital transition period.
At the same time ‘home grown’ also has proved unsuccessful as at times the values could be misconstrued by interested parties and thus it getting diluted into a political tug-of-war. So be it.