SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS (NOVEMBER 2019) – Compiled by Victor Melder

Australia beat the touring Sri Lankans by 7 wickets, to win the third and final T20 encounter, played at the MCG, Melbourne. Scores:

Sri Lanka – 142 6 in 20 Overs (Perera 57, Fernando 20, Cummins 2/23, Richardson 2/25, Starc 2/32)

Australia – 145/3 in 17.4 Overs (Warner 57no, Finch 37, Turner 22, Pradeep 1/20, Malinga 1/22, Kumaa 1/49)

Player of the match: David Warner (Australia)

Player of the series: David Warner (Australia)

Australia won the 3 match series 3-0

Mickey Arthur is likely to become Sri Lanka’s next head coach, despite Chandika Hathurusingha not having been officially been fired yet. Arthur has not signed a contract with Sri Lanka Cricket so far, but board officials have expressed confidence that Arthur will take up the role before Sri Lanka’s forthcoming Test tour of Pakistan, which begins on December 11. SLC has been searching for a new coach since the end of the World Cup, and had approached several high-profile names, including former England batting coach Mark Ramprakash. But they now believe Arthur is the man to take the team forward.

List of Sri Lanka coaches this decade

Trevor Bayliss, Rumesh Ratnayake (interim), Stuart Law (interim), Geoff Marsh, Graeme Ford, Paul Farbrace, Marvan Atapattu, Jerome Jayaratne (interim), Nic Pothas (interim), Chandika Hathurusingha, Rumesh Ratnayake (interim), Mickey Arthur?

“We are having discussions with Mickey,” SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said. “We think we will be able to reach an agreement.” Arthur has coached South Africa and Australia in the past, but it was his results with Pakistan between 2016 and 2019 that really impressed SLC, de Silva said. If Arthur comes aboard as Sri Lanka coach he will be the 11th coach of the men’s team, including interim appointments, since 2011. Both previous coaches – Graeme Ford and Hathurusingha – were put under pressure to end their tenures long before their contracts expired. (Cricinfo)

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) signed an MOU recently to build a cricket ground on a 36 acre land, which belongs to the SLT Campus in Padukka. Under the MOU, SLT will do the initial preparation work of the ground, whilst SLC will build cricketing facilities. Among the work, SLC will carry out are, establishing 05 center pitches, modern stadiums, player dressing rooms, side wickets for training, effective and efficient drainage systems and other necessary facilities. SLC and SLT will form a ‘Management Committee’ to run the operations of the proposed ground, whilst the ground will be used to play provincial and first class matches, and also matches with visiting emerging international teams. The MOU was signed at the SLC Headquarters with the participation of Honorary Secretary of SLC Mr. Mohan De Silva and the Chairman of SLT Mr. Kumarasinghe Sirisena. Mr. Ravin Wickramaratne, Vice President of SLC, Mr. Ranjith Rubasinghe, CEO of SLT Campus, Mr. Miran Fernando, Head of Legal at SLT, and Mr. Mahesh Silva, Head of Finance of SLC. (Daily Island, 22.11.2019)