Sanath Jayasuriya appointed Sri Lankan men's team's cricket consultant for 1 year
Former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya has been as the national men's team's cricket consultant for a year. The former left-handed batter's role entails overseeing the players' and coaches' work at the SLC's high-performance centre in Khettarama.
This is also the 54-year-old's first role with the national team since copping a ban from ICC's anti-corruption unit in 2019. Jayasuriya faced ban fron the ICC body after admitting to a couple of charges - the failure to co-operate during an investigation and obstructing or delaying the process of investigation under the anti-corruption code.
The board released a statement as below:
"[Jayasuriya] will also establish national specialist skills programs with key staff aligned to lead roles within each skill discipline, among several other tasks."
The Sri Lankan legend was associated with the men's team as a chief selector, but the previous two stints were marred by controversies. He faced accusations of favouring a player too much during the first stint, followed by substantial turnover in the men's team.
Sanath Jayasuriya's announcement follows the appointment of a new selection committee
With Sri Lanka delivering a disappointing performance at the 2023 World Cup, the board had to trigger a few changes. After Team India bundled them out for 55, resulting in a 302-run demolition, the entire cricket board was sacked. A few weeks later, ICC suspended SLC due to excessive government interference.
However, they seemed to have begun a new era by appointing former opener Upul Tharanga as the chief selector, with Ajantha Mendis, Indika de Saram, Tharanga Paranavitana, and Dilruwan Perera as the other three members of the committee. Sri Lanka, who won the 1996 World Cup, managed only two wins out of nine in the 2023 World Cup, most notably beating defending champions England.
The new selection committee is likely to start its stint with the limited-overs series against Zimbabwe on home soil.