Sanath Jayasuriya, former Sri Lanka captain and all-time great and the game’s most swashbuckling of all-rounder, will be appointed as the official head coach of the Sri Lanka men’s cricket team from October 7 onward. The SLC Board released an announcement on X, formerly Twitter, confirming Jayasuriya will replace Chris Silverwood.
Silverwood stepped down from England in June 2024 after Sri Lanka’s disastrous failure to qualify for the Super 8s stage in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The final round played in the West Indies and the USA, turned out to be disastrous for Sri Lanka, and he was needed to take charge of the team.
He had proved himself as one of Sri Lanka’s core assets as when the team under his interim head coach managed to win the 1996 ODI World Cup. His brief period as captain has been marked with Sri Lanka registering their first bilateral ODI series victory against India since 1997.
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He had also steered the team to their first-ever Test victory over England at The Oval, which they followed up with a whitewash against New Zealand in a two-match Test series before a delirious home crowd.
Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the appointment of Sanath Jayasuriya as the head coach of the national team.
The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket made this decision taking into consideration the team’s good performances in the recent tours against India, England,… pic.twitter.com/IkvAIJgqio
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) October 7, 2024
The Sri Lanka Cricket announced the appointment of Sanath Jayasuriya as head coach of the national team. According to an official release, the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket took the decision based on the recent performances of the team under him against India, England, and New Zealand. His contract, which runs up to March 31, 2026, came into effect from October 1.
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Jayasuriya, who played 110 Tests, 445 ODIs, and 31 T20Is over a distinguished international career spanning more than two decades, now faces his first series as full-time head coach when the West Indies arrive later this month. The series will comprise three T20Is followed by three ODIs. Sri Lanka is in pretty good shape as well, sitting at No. 3 in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 standings, potentially reaching the final of the WTC at Lord’s in June 2025.
