Tillakaratne appointed Sri Lanka’s temporary batting coach

Tuesday, 25 July 2017 00:50 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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ESPNCricinfo: Hashan Tillakaratne has joined the Sri Lanka team as temporary batting coach, and will be with the side until at least the end of the Test series against India. Sri Lanka have been without a permanent batting coach since Marvan Atapattu was raised to the position of head coach in 2014.

“Hashan has been with us since the recent Test match against Zimbabwe, actually,” Sri Lanka Cricket manager Asanka Gurusinha said. “At this stage, for all the Tests he will be batting coach. Most probably after the Indian series we’ll discuss with coach Nic Pothas and see what’s happening from there. With all his experience, there is a lot the batsmen can learn from him.” Tillakaratne has been a coach in the SLC system since December last year, largely working with the sides that feed into the national team. He had also previously served as a national selector, between January 2013 and April 2015.

A former captain, having led Sri Lanka in 11 Tests, Tillakaratne had hit 11 Test centuries across 83 matches. His is the latest in a spate of recent appointments in the Sri Lanka set-up. Chaminda Vaas replaced the outgoing Champaka Ramanayake as bowling coach on Friday, Pothas replaced Graham Ford in June, and Gurusinha himself was brought in as cricket manager ahead of the Bangladesh series in March.