Trevor Bayliss is Sri Lanka coach

[theguyinallblue]

once again..SL Board scores over BCCI in handling the cricketing issues more professionally and intelligently.. Trevor Bayliss is new Sri Lanka coach Sa'adi Thawfeeq June 14, 2007 Trevor Bayliss has been appointed Sri Lanka coach, officials of the country's cricket board said today. Bayliss, who succeeds Tom Moody, will begin a two-year term in August after giving up his coaching duties in New South Wales.. Jayantha Dharmadasa, president of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), said Bayliss was interviewed in Colombo had made such an impactful presentation that the board had no hesitation in contracting him as the next coach. "Trevor came before a high powered committee comprising Aravinda de Silva, Sidath Wettimuny, Michael Tissera, Anura Tennekoon and Duleep Mendis, who were very impressed with his presentation," Dharmadasa said. A stroke playing middle-order batsman and brilliant cover fielder, Bayliss 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." 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. That 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 SLC for the position 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 given 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. http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/298033.html

[King]

Good for Sri Lankan cricket. No drama, no frills whatsoever unlike the BCCI and PCB. Keep a low profile, interview the right candidates and without much drama pick one. The selection of a coach is such a drama in India and Pakistan.

[Ram]

5th consecutive aussie coach for Lanka ?? wow !!

[Ram]

this is the best time to be former australian player..dusnt matter even if you have played only a handful of matches..

[Bumper]

Smart execution by the Lankan board. They know that they are competing with two other BIGGER Asian boards. Inspite of being the smallest country/board, they have been the least political & the most efficient. Not a single news item came out about their nominees or coaching campaign, compared to an army of people in India (Gavaskar, Wadekar, Shastri, Niranjan Shah, Srinivasan Pawar, players etc) analysing candidates, discarding the best, lining up the uninterested & losing out on all of them