25 September 2014 08:48 am
By Champika Fernando
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Marvan Atapattu as Sri Lanka’s full-time cricket coach for a two-year period ending a lengthy deliberation.
He will be the first full time local coach for Sri Lanka since Roy Dias in 1999.
Atapattu, 43 will be Sri Lanka’s seventh coach since 2010, following Trevor Bayliss, Stuart Law, Rumesh Ratnayake, Geoff Marsh, Graham Ford and Paul Farbrace.
SLC’s coach selection committee interviewed Atapattu, the interim head coach and Englishman John Lewis on Tuesday before recommending Atapattu as their preferred choice to the executive committee. “The Executive Committee of SLC unanimously approved and appointed Mr. Marvan Atapattu to the position of National Head Coach of Sri Lanka Cricket with immediate effect,” SLC said in a media release yesterday.
Marvan’s appointment created a controversy as Sanath Jayasuriya resigned from the committee making the decision. He was also a notable absentee at yesterday’s Executive Committee meeting along with SLC president Jayantha Dharmadasa.
In a mail to SLC on Tuesday, Jayasuriya said, “There seems to be several factions within, under the impression that my only intention is to bring in a foreign coach. It is indeed extremely disheartening to know as we are preparing for a World cup and the game of cricket is marginalized due to such inferences.”
The committee included Asanga Seneviratne, Mohan De Silva, Nishantha Ranatunga, Hirantha Perera, Nuski Mohamed, Sanath Jayasuriya, Jayananda Warnaweera, Shammi Silva, Dushan Soyza, Ranjit Fernando, and Head of Coaching Jerome Jayaratne.
Atapattu who was appointed interim head coach after Englishman Paul Farbrace prematurely ended his job in April, made a strong case for a longer stint when he oversaw Sri Lanka’s record triumph against England in England and helped Sri Lanka to a series victory against Pakistan in both Test and ODI series.
“I am really happy and proud that my hard work had paid off well. I will do my utmost to serve my country,” Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka skipper said on his appointment.
Atapattu’s first assignment will be the seven match ODI series against England in November followed by a two match Test and seven-match ODI series against New Zealand in New Zealand just weeks before the next years 50 over World Cup.
The former Sri Lanka opener, known for his elegant stroke play, played 90 Test for Sri Lanka ( 5502 runs) with an average of 39.02 and also featured in 268 ODIs collecting 8529 runs with an average of 37.57.