Marvan named interim Sri Lanka coach

Saturday, 26 April 2014 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: Sri Lanka appointed former captain Marvan Atapattu as the interim head coach of their cricket team on Friday following Paul Farbrace’s resignation earlier this week. Atapattu, 43, will be in charge of the team for their tour of Ireland and England starting next month and the subsequent home series against South Africa.

Farbrace resigned to become England’s assistant coach after guiding Sri Lanka to the World Twenty20 title in Bangladesh earlier this month. Fielding coach and former off-spinner Ruwan Kalpage will be Atapattu’s deputy for the two series, the cricket board said. “We made these appointments to get out of the current situation. We have not, at this point of time, thought of going for a foreign coach,” SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said. “However, we are looking at hiring a consultant coach familiar with English conditions and pitches to help the two coaches during the tour,” he said. Sri Lanka will leave for Ireland on 2 May to play two One-Day Internationals in Dublin on 6 and 8 May before moving to England to play a series of two tests, five One-Day Internationals and a one-off Twenty20 International.