The Sri Lanka coach talks about his tenure with the team and the mixed bag of results so far
Interview by Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Dec-2024You were a consultant with the team before you became interim coach in July. What shape was the team in when you took over?
As consultant I just observed, mostly. When there’s a coach in place, you can’t interfere. I was mainly concerned about what the coaches were doing, and whether we are getting the maximum out of them. I’d never worked as coach before, but with the experience I had playing, I have worked with plenty of coaches. But the main thing I focused on was the support staff. I wondered if to some extent they were on the back foot. They needed to be given responsibilities and held accountable, and so we’ve done that. We need to support them so they can take decisions without fear.With the players, one of the first things I did was talk to them about discipline, and how we had to maintain that. That’s Sri Lankan culture. Other nations may do certain things, but that’s not relevant to us. A lot of my role is about managing everyone, and making sure that the players are relaxed but know very clearly that they will be pulled up if they do something wrong.Kumar Sangakkara has also been helping me a lot behind the scenes, in terms of getting the right consultants for various tours. Lasith Malinga has also been very helpful to the bowlers, talking to us over Zoom, and sharing his experience, which you can’t put a value on. There’s a lot for me to learn from them as well.Related
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As interim coach you started off with a bit of a horror series – the 0-3 loss to India in T20Is at home in July. What are you memories of that?
We knew we were playing the top team in the world. We were not that far away from them in those games, and in the last match, which we could have easily won, we collapsed. We were ashamed. We couldn’t face the public, it was that bad. The spectators were putting us down, because they were hurting – those things you have to expect. But in the ODIs, I told the players not to drop their heads. They’re a talented team. India might be the No. 1 team, but we’re playing at home, and we can do this.How much of a confidence boost was it to get that first bilateral series victory in 27 years against India?
We got a lot of confidence out of that, but we tried to keep it to ourselves. We tried to be humble and make it feel like business as usual. The next series was coming up quickly, so the key was to keep things as simple as possible. When we win, the fans are elated, and when we lose, they don’t even want to watch us. But we wanted to build that belief that we could beat any team anywhere.
“We were not that far away from [India in the T20Is], and in the last match, which we could have easily won, we collapsed. We were ashamed. We couldn’t face the public, it was that bad”
You also had a comeback win in England, after losing the first two Tests. Sri Lanka went in with four quicks in that match, and no specialist spin options. How did that decision come about?
Even in the games we lost, we were continuously competing. They weren’t able to dominate us completely. It would just be one hour or one session that would define the match. We knew that and the players’ confidence was good, and I think they knew that at some point there would be a chance to swing a match in our direction.It had been a long time since I’d seen a pitch like that at The Oval. Not just grass, but clouds overhead as well. I knew it would be tough. Myself, Thilina Kandamby [Sri Lanka’s batting coach], Ian Bell [consultant], and captain Dhananjaya de Silva all talked about it at length. We kept going back and forth over whether we will need some spin. I was telling Dhana that he could make up the spin overs. Sanga was also chipping in with his knowledge and thoughts. In the end we took that decision and backed the four bowlers we picked.Pathum Nissanka hit an unbelievable hundred to get us home in the second innings.When you were chief selector, one of the major criticisms was that you made far too many changes to the team. But there’s a consistency around selections in your time as coach so far. Did you learn something from your selection stints?
When I was selector, there were a lot of injuries. More than 20 players got injured. Touch wood that doesn’t happen here. But I did learn from that time. Just because there were injuries, I can’t give excuses. Now I have to do something different.You’ve got two characters who seem very calm while leading the teams – Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva and white-ball captain Charith Asalanka. How has this affected how you do things?
They are not emotional, but they do express their views quite strongly. They are very straightforward with how they communicate with the team. Charith and Dhananjaya both discuss things with me, before matches, during breaks. The directions are very clear. The players get clear-cut messages. And once we take a decision, no one can change that.Since Jayasuriya took over as coach in July, Sri Lanka have won 12 of 24 internationals, including an ODI series against India and Test and ODI series against New Zealand•AFP/Getty ImagesIt’s the same with the coaches. Everyone has their own perspective, and if they see something that needs addressing, they need to be able to come and talk to me without fear. You need to take all these angles into account, make a decision, and communicate that.The selection committee is also comprised of players who were playing until quite recently. How valuable is it to have people who have experience of modern cricket in those positions?
That we have someone like Upul Tharanga as chief selector is a major positive. Even now he’s still playing in the Legends tournaments. He’d played first-class cricket until very recently. That knowledge is vital. We’re lucky that we have a team like that in our selection committee. They understand the game, and even the players can approach them. That’s really important – players communicating with the coach and selectors is a major thing. If I didn’t respond when a player approaches me, I’m not doing the right thing. Protecting those lines of communication is vital.You’ve also got depth in various positions now, which is not something Sri Lankan cricket has always had. How did that come about?
That’s through our Sri Lanka A programme. We pushed them and pushed them, and built up players we can replace the ones in the team with. We struggled a lot without that depth for a while. “Does this player have the capacity to succeed at the top level?” That was always a worry. But I think we’ve raised those standards. A lot of hard work has gone into that, with everyone from the High Performance Centre, Emerging cricket, and Under-19 teams contributing. We’ve also got local [coaching] talent like Jerome Jayaratne and Ruwan Kalpage involved in big ways now. We used to have foreign appointments in these positions. There’s a lot of talent in our coaching system. Avishka Gunawardene has been the A-team coach for a while, and maybe he’s ready for another step too. You also need depth in coaching.
“A lot of my role is about managing everyone, and making sure that the players are relaxed but know very clearly that they will be pulled up if they do something wrong”
Has the National Super League [the pinnacle domestic tournament introduced in 2018] helped as well?
The standard of cricket at the NSL is high and you have to give it credit. Any good tournament will improve cricket. We keep fine-tuning it and making it better. Just recently the player transfer system became better.Since 2014, there’s been a huge dip in performance for the men’s team, across formats. You’ve seen a lot of eras of Sri Lankan cricket. Can fans expect something better to come?
What I’d say to fans is that we’ve been playing well. Even before this South Africa tour, we’d done well at home. I have a lot of trust in this team. I think more than a usual international coach, I have passion and love for Sri Lankan cricket. I can’t stand to watch when we’re losing, so I’m trying to give everything I can. Even during this South Africa series, I was really disappointed with us getting out for 42. In the second innings we came back a little, but it wasn’t enough for me. I had expected two hundreds. Chandi [Dinesh Chandimal] worked very hard and got close. Dhananjaya also batted well, but we’ve got to turn those [knocks] into centuries.Yes, the conditions are tough, but we have to hit it even with our bodies or our heads and keep playing. These players are good. What I’d say to fans is that this group of players will achieve what you expect of them.