In order to appoint a new head coach for the national team by replacing Chandika Hathurusingha before the New Zealand series, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) have shortlisted Tom Moody, Micky Arthur and Russel Domingo for the job, Cricket Age reliably learns.
Following Sri Lanka’s disappointing World Cup, where they finished in sixth place with only 3 wins in 9 games, the SLC has decided to remove national team support staff, including head coach Chandika Hathurasingha.
The initiative was taken by Sri Lanka Sports Minister Harin Fernando himself, who issued a directive on July 17, urging all the national team coaches to step down. Later, Harin made it clear that Sri Lanka would have a new coach before the New Zealand test series, starting from August 14.
“Before the New Zealand test series, we will have a new coach. If Hathurusingha doesn’t leave, we may have to consider legal action or offer him a different job at board” Harin told reporters in Colombo on July 30.
Tom Moody, former Australian allrounder, has become the front runner to take over coaching reins from Hathurusingha. A well respected Coach in World Cricket, Moody has the unmatched experience with subcontinent teams, as he has been associated as head coach with Indian Premier League (IPL) team Sunrisers Hyderabad, Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) team Rangpur Riders and Pakistan Super League (PSL) team Multan Sultan.
Moody has applied for team India’s high profile coaching job as well, as BCCI have invited new applications for the top post.
Micky Arthur is also in the race, even though he has not yet given an indication publicly to leave his current job as head coach of Pakistan.
“Even though Moody is much more expensive than other two, he is our first choice, simply because of his experience with T20 franchises in subcontinent. However, he has not given a clear indication as yet, so we will have to wait for few more days” a senior SLC administrator told Cricket Age.
Arthur, meanwhile, has a meeting scheduled with PCB on tomorrow (August 2) and is likely to take a call after that only.
However, if both Moody and Arthur prefers their prior c, then Russell Domingo is likely to become an automatic choice. A former proteas Coach, Domingo has no past connection with Sri Lanka Cricket, so SLC Top brass thinks that he will be able to work with less burden.
“Domingo is scheduled for a Skype interview with board top brass. But, we are not in hurry, as we wants to pick a best coach who can move Sri Lanka cricket forward” the senior administrator added further.
