Hathu seeks a wrist spinner for Lankan drive
Australian Peter Sleep likely to take over as Spin Coach
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will shortly bring down former Australian leg-spinner Peter Sleep for a two-week training session to see whether the 61-year-old fits the bill for a longer stint.
At present SLC is head-hunting for a coach to help overall development of spin-bowling skills of the players in Sri Lanka and head coach Chandika Hathurusingha has recommended Sleep for a pre-assessment.
“We will have few sessions with him to see whether he meets our expectations,” a highly placed cricket source said.
“We are looking at a wrist- spinner and if Sleep can meet our expectations we may consider him for a full- time position.”
Sleep, who currently works as the spin bowling coach of the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy in South Australia, has played 14 Test matches for Australia and taken 31 wickets. He has more than 300 first class wickets under his belt.
He has rarely played two games in succession in his career. However, after taking ten wickets in the 198687 Ashes, he was retained for the next four Tests following the series before falling out of favour again.
Reports earlier suggested that several overseas candidates had applied for the spin bowling coach position including former Pakistan skipper Mushtaq Ahmed.
Ahmed whose contracts with the Pakistan Cricket Board ends later this month is reportedly keen to join ranks with Sri Lanka cricket. Mushy Management Company yesterday confirmed that Mushtaq who has vast experienced in coaching having coached England, Pakistan and several other franchise teams (IPL and PSL) has been approached by Sri Lanka and West Indies.
“He has not decided anything yet but he believes in the potential of Sri Lanka bowlers and the team. He believe he can make a strong difference with a such a young team,” a source from the Mushy Management Company said.
It was also reported that former Sri Lanka all-rounder Ruwan Kalpage is front-runner for the position. However, with SLC looking for a wrist spinner, the chances of former off-spinning all-rounder landing the job remains doubtful.
Kalpage has previously functioned in many different roles such as fielding coach, spin bowling coach and computer analyst of the Sri Lanka national team. He was also the assistant coach of the Bangladesh national team under Hathurusingha.
Meanwhile, SLC will appoint a lead fast bowling coach and a head coach for the national U-19 team shortly.