Hashan Tillakaratne appointed Head Coach of SL Women’s Cricket Team

Hashan Tillakaratne will play a pivotal role as Women’s Head Coach

Former Sri Lanka cricketer Hashan Tillakaratne has been appointed as the Head Coach of the Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket Team.

His appointment was confirmed to the Daily News yesterday by a senior official of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

The 53-year-old will play a pivotal role as Head Coach and is likely to serve in this capacity for a couple years from immediate effect. He was earlier appointed as the Head Coach of the Sri Lanka Under-19 Cricket Team and later he was attached to the High-Performance Unit of SLC.

He represented the country with distinction as a stylish left-hand batsman who kept wickets and bowled right-arm off-breaks as and when it was needed. He concentrated playing for the NCC from 1984 until his retirement in 2004, without swapping clubs scoring over 13,000 First-Class runs.

Tillakaratne made his Test debut in 1989 against Australia in Hobart and went on to represent the country till 2004.

He competed in 83 Test matches scoring over 4,500 runs maintaining an average of 42.87 which comprised 11 centuries and 20 half-centuries with a highest score of 204 not out against the West Indies. He also played in 200 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and made his debut against India in Sharjah in 1986 scoring over 3,700 runs inclusive of two centuries and 13 half-centuries. (A.N)