Trevor Bayliss to be the new coach of Sri Lanka
In a surprise move Sri Lanka Cricket appointed Trevor Bayliss as the new coach of Sri Lanka yesterday. Bayliss was in Colombo for an interview and Sri Lanka Cricket president Jayantha Dharmadasa said that he made such an impactful presentation that they had no hesitation in contracting him as the next coach.
“Trevor came before a high powered committee comprising past cricketers Aravinda de Silva, Sidath Wettimuny, Michael Tissera, Anura Tennekoon and Duleep Mendis who were very much impressed with his presentation,” said Dharmadasa.
Bayliss, 44, is currently coaching New South Wales and he has been signed up on a two-year contract which starts from August 7 this year. A stroke playing middle-order batsman and brilliant cover fielder he quickly made his mark as the head coach of NSW when he succeeded Steve Rixon three years ago. He became a cricket development officer for the NSW Cricket Association and was a mentor to the Second XI for a long time before taking the top job.
Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Kanangan Mathivanan said: “When we knew how good he was and so we signed him up immediately because there are a lot of countries head hunting for coaches at present.” “Trevor will have to give New South Wales six weeks notice before he can start on his new contract,” he added.
Mathivanan also stated that a new clause has been included in the contract where either of the parties will have to give three months’ notice if they are quitting or terminating the contract. “We were caught in a tight situation when Tom Moody informed us at the end of the World Cup that he was leaving us. His decision coming so late gave us little breathing space. Fortunately for us we did not have any heavy international commitments at the time,” said Mathivanan.
Bayliss was one of the names suggested to the Sri Lank Cricket for the position of the coach by Tom Moody. The other was Terry Oliver, the Queensland coach who was also a strong contender for the position of the new Sri Lankan coach. He was interviewed a fortnight ago. Sri Lanka Cricket’s move to appoint Bayliss so quickly is an interesting development considering the fact that Dharmadasa had said last week that his committee was not in a hurry to appoint a coach immediately.
Bayliss will have his first international assignment with the Sri Lanka team when they take part in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup tournament in South Africa in September. Bayliss becomes the fifth coach from Australia to take charge of the Sri Lankan team since 1995. Dav Whatmore had two stints with the national side. He was followed by Bruce Yardley, John Dyson and then Tom Moody.
Trevor Penney who was Moody’s assistant will handle the Sri Lanka team for the series against Bangladesh which starts next week. Sri Lanka Cricket appointed former Sri Lanka fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake as assistant coach to succeed Penney who will be leaving at the end of his contract in August.
SOURCE: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/298033.html
