Sri Lanka hires former Australia international as cricket director in a move to revamp the struggling national team.
Sri Lanka has appointed former national coach Tom Moody as director of cricket as part of a revamp of cricket operations, the governing body of the sport in the country said.
Former Australia all-rounder Moody guided Sri Lanka to the 2007 World Cup final and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said on Monday that the 55-year-old’s knowledge of the system prompted their technical advisory committee to recommend him.
SLC added that Moody will be a consultant and must fulfil 300 days of “mandatory assignment” in his three-year deal.
“Tom has worked with SLC in the past and has shown results, and I am sure with his working knowledge of the system, Tom will add greater value to our game,” SLC CEO Ashley De Silva said in a statement on Sunday.
Moody will be tasked with analysing the Future Tour Programme, Sri Lanka’s domestic tournament structure, player welfare and education and skill development.
He will also look after the coaching and support staff structure as well as high performance and data analytics.
Moody has previously served as director of cricket of the Caribbean Premier League and Worcestershire and currently holds a similar position with Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad.
He has coached Western Australia, Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad among other roles in the game.
Moody played eight tests and 76 one-day internationals for Australia before retiring in the 2000-2001 season.
Sri Lanka’s cricket has declined significantly over the last five years.
Recent test series defeats against South Africa and England sparked strong criticism and prompted authorities to appoint a cricket committee of former international stars Aravinda de Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan, Roshan Mahanama and Kumar Sangakkara.
Mathews to captain Sri Lanka in T20s
Sri Lanka plays West Indies in their opening Twenty20 game on Wednesday in Antigua.
Former skipper Angelo Mathews will be the cricket team’s stand-in captain for the three-match Twenty20 series in West Indies after Dasun Shanaka was left stranded by a visa issue, the country’s cricket board said on Sunday.
Shanaka was named Sri Lanka’s new Twenty20 captain last week but the 29-year-old could not board the flight that left with his teammates on Monday after failing to arrange a new transit visa to the United States.
“Mathews was appointed by the national selectors as Dasun Shanaka, who was appointed as the T20 captain for the tour of West Indies, is yet to join the team owing to a delay in obtaining a US transit visa,” the Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.
