Cricket: Has Coach Graham Ford left Sri Lanka team?

Speculation was rife about the future of the Sri Lanka Cricket team's Coach Graham Ford. 

It is learnt that when coach Ford left for South Africa for a break he packed his bags lock stock and barrel. 

He also had had several rounds of discussions with the SLC management. 

An insider said "Yes, we would begin our training under Asanka Gurusinha as Ford is now out of the island". 

It is also said that generally Ford leaves for a vacation only with the necessary minimum travel gear. 

Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Executive Officer Ashley de Silva said that the tenure of the present cricket selectors would expire on June 30 and they were on the lookout for new eyes. 

However, out of the rest who are in office – Romesh Kaluwitharana and Eric Upashantha are still in contention while Ranjith Madurasinghe has been moved to be in charge of junior selections. 

A few days ago, Asanka Gurusinha who has been domiciled in Australia for the past 20 years, and is an Australian citizen was recruited by SLC President Sumathipala to be put in charge as National Cricket team’s cricket manager and selector. 

This means that the earlier practice of sending a member of selection committee as tour selector has been made redundant. 

The post of manager cum selection committee chairman is not new to Sri Lanka. 

In the 1996 World Cup winning combination, former national captain Duleep Mendis did both jobs as manager cum selection committee chairman. 

However in the present context it may be difficult to continue as chief selector cum manager because, the chief selector is in overall in-charge of selections and it encompasses junior cricket too. 

If Gurusinha is made chief selector and Ranjith Madurasinghe is moved to be in charge of junior selections, at least two vacancies would crop up. 

There were a multitude of names put in to the potpourri. 

Initially, a strong contender was Hashan Tillekeratne, one of the SLC staff batting coaches. However, as both Tillekeratne’s children are in the national cricket periphery, that has become a barrier in the present context. 

It is learned that names like the present national cricket manager Ranjith Fernando, former National Coach Marvan Atapattu, Brendon Kuruppu who was a member of the Kapila Wijegunawardena selection committee and even first national captain Bandula Warnapura were bandied about, but, it is said the final preferences have still not been finalised.