Australian Trevor Bayliss has been named as the new coach of the Sri Lanka national team.The 44-year-old will replace compatriot Tom Moody, who resigned following the recent World Cup in the Caribbean.
Bayliss, currently coach of state side New South wales, has agreed a two-year contract and will take over in August.
Trevor Penney and Rumesh Ratnayeke will be in temporary charge of the side for the home series against Bangladesh, which starts later this month.
Penney was Moody's assistant and will join him in Western Australia before the start of their next domestic season.
Bayliss emerged as a candidate for the job a fortnight ago with the full backing of New South Wales chief executive Dave Gilbert.
"We don't want to lose him, but we realise he is very ambitious and in the long term, he wants to coach Australia," he said.
Samantha Algama, media manager for Sri Lanka Cricket, told BBC Sport that Bayliss and Terry Oliver, the coach of another Australian state side, Queensland, were the only two people interviewed for the job.
She said Bayliss had given a very impressive presentation about his plans to a panel of former Sri Lanka players, including Aravinda de Silva, Ranjan Madugalle and Duleep Mendis, which had swung the decision in his favour.
"He has impressed everybody," she added.
He will be the fifth Australian to coach Sri Lanka following Dav Whatmore, Bruce Yardley, John Dyson and Moody and will be in charge for the first time at the inaugural Twenty20 world championship in South Africa in September.
A former batsman for New South Wales, Bayliss never played international cricket and retired after the 1992-93 season with a first-class average of 35.
He then turned to coaching, taking charge of the state team in 2004 and guiding them to victory in the Pura Cup in his first season in charge. The following year they won the one-day ING Cup
No comments:
Post a Comment