Sri Lanka Sports Minister Asks Cricket Board to Sack Coaches

Sri Lankan Cricket is likely to make a complete revamp to their support staff after the Sri Lankan sports minister demanded resignation of all the members of Sri Lankan coaching staff.

“We’re looking at that same line, but we (the board) will see what we can do when we come back. We first need to talk with the minister,” ESPN Cricinfo quoted SLC President Shammi Silva as saying.

“The team has nothing to do with the coaching staff. It only becomes a problem if the players have bonded with the coaches. I don’t think it will affect the tour (series against Bangladesh),” he added.

The Sri Lankan Cricket president later confirmed that Sri Lanka sports minister Harin Fernando had made a request in writing to make changes in the coaching staff.

“But we know this is a complex problem because we are dealing with professionals. We know Sri Lanka has a bad reputation that we have hired and fired coaches over the past so many years. We know our responsibilities and we also can’t go against the minister’s recommendations,” de Silva said.

The current Sri Lankan coaching staff is headed by Chandika Hathurusingha with Jon Lewis as the batting coach and Steve Rixon as the fielding coach whose contracts were set to expire after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

Sri Lanka managed just eight points from their nine World Cup matches and finished sixth in the table. They however had beaten the current World Champions England during the league stage and created a possible upset scenario for England, which can be taken as a huge positive.

Sri Lankan cricket has been in deep trouble since the retirement of the players from their golden generation. This is another effort to redevelop cricket in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s first assignment after the World Cup would be three match series against Bangladesh starting on 26 July.