Head coach hunt continues after Ford, Farbrace snub
The hunt for Mickey Arthur’s replacement as national Head Coach has met a roadblock with two earmarked candidates, Graham Ford and Paul Farbrace, turning their backs on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). This means the process will take much longer than expected with SLC confirming that Rumesh Ratnayake–the interim Head Coach–will oversee the team during the Test and T20 series against India, which follows the five-match T20 series against Australia next month.
Both Ford and Farbrace worked with SLC twice each in their careers. The group entrusted with selecting the Head Coach was keen to secure one of them. Asked why Ford and Farbrace rejected the offer, SLC CEO Ashley de Silva declined to shed any light but said the vacancy will be filled in due course with the right candidate.
“We are in no hurry to make the appointment,” insisted de Silva.
“We have appointed Rumesh (Ratnayake) as interim coach and he will continue for the Australian and Indian series. In the meantime, we will continue to look for the right candidate.”
SLC disbanded the national team’s coaching team at the conclusion of the home Test series against West Indies despite signs of great improvement under Arthur, the South African who moved to Derbyshire.
Ford has turned down the offer due to personal reasons as he is trying to obtain residency in Ireland, where he last worked, while Farbrace, who left Sri Lanka’s Head Coach position just three months into his last two-year contract, wants to remain with Warwickshire county.
Ford and Farbrace had not applied for the post when the Board advertised. But SLC decided to negotiate with them as it was not happy with the applicants. Among them were three Sri Lankans including Naveed Nawaz, the current U-19 coach of Bangladesh. Nawaz was the front-runner among those 17 shortlisted but a decision was reached to hire a foreigner despite Mahela Jayawardena overlooking the entire coaching structure as Consultant Coach.
Nawaz’s appointment was endorsed by Roshan Mahanama and Aravinda de Silva, the Head of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), but was outvoted by Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralidaran as they pushed for the enlistment of a foreigner. The committee is now looking at either getting one of the applicants who they have already interviewed or headhunting again.
Among the other Sri Lankans was Ruwan Kalpage, who could replace Tom Moody as Director of Cricket in April. The Technical Advisory Committee which recommended Moody’s appointment last year now believes they need a full-timer at the job and Kalpage has emerged the front-runner to take over the position.
Kalpage, a former Sri Lanka cricketer, has served in various coaching positions with SLC and Bangladesh Cricket Board.