Marvan Atapattu has been named Sri Lanka's interim head coach, following
the resignation of Paul Farbrace earlier this week. Ruwan Kalpage, Sri
Lanka's fielding coach and former offspinner, has been appointed his
assistant. The appointments were for Sri Lanka's upcoming tour of the
Ireland and England as well as the home series against South Africa to
follow, SLC confirmed on Friday.
Atapattu had applied for the head coach position when Graham Ford had
announced he would vacate the job, and had progressed to the final round
of interviews in November, before Farbrace was appointed. Atapattu has
been Sri Lanka's batting coach since for three years, and had been
assistant coach since March 2013.
He has earned a reputation for his technical acumen - as a coach, as he
had been as a player - but he was deemed unready for head coach role
late last year. Both Farbrace and Ford, however, have publicly lauded
his work ethic.
The appointments had been made on the recommendations of a three-man
coach selection committee, featuring chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya,
head of coaching Jerome Jayaratne, and cricket committee chairman Ranjit
Fernando. Jayasuriya had issued strong signals Atapattu would be named
interim coach, in the days following Farbrace's departure, as the
fast-approaching tour did not allow SLC enough time to appoint a
permanent head coach.
"We should look to give responsibility to Marvan, because he's been
around for a few years," Jayasuriya had said. "The bowling and fielding
coaches will also have to take a lot of responsibility."
Among the most difficult aspects of Atapattu's job will be devising an
effective strategy against an opponent who now possesses intimate
knowledge of Sri Lanka's strengths, weaknesses and team dynamics, thanks
to Farbrace's appointment as England assistant coach. Sri Lanka have
not defeated England in a Test since 2006, but this tour represents a
good opportunity to improve that record, while England themselves seek
to rebuild after a disastrous winter.
"Farbrace knows inside out about Sri Lanka's cricketers, and that's the
biggest challenge for us," Jayasuriya said. "He knows our batsmen and
bowlers from top to bottom, and what we have been discussing in the last
four or five months. I hope Marvan, Ruwan, the bowling coach can do a
lot of work with the senior cricketers and come out of this situation."
The ODIs in the tour are also a vital step en route to the 2015 World
Cup, as Sri Lanka do not play outside Asia for six months, following
that series. The team leaves the country on May 2, to play two ODIs in
Dublin, before moving on to three practice matches in England.
Sri Lanka play four Tests, ten ODIs and a T20 international in their two
upcoming series. The trip to England is the most important away tour in
the year, before their most high-profile home-assignment, against the
top-ranked Test team, begins in July.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @andrewffernando
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