Willis wants to seek out legends for extra help

NEW SRI Lanka high-performance manager Simon Willis wants to tap into the minds of legends Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara as he aims to transfer his success at Kent to Colombo.

Willis was headhunted by the Sri Lankan board after working wonders with Kent’s academy since its establishment in 2003 – producing players such as England batsman Sam Billings and current skipper Sam Northeast. The 42-year-old will oversee the national academy and head up the Sri Lanka A, U23, U19 and various development squads with the remit to create a clear pathway to the senior side.

Sri Lanka – coached by Willis’ former colleague at Kent, Graham Ford – are reeling from two heavy Test defeats to England but showed fighting spirit thanks to Dinesh Chandimal’s brilliant century at Chester-le-Street earlier this week. And Willis, who officially started the role on Wednesday, is aiming to make sure potential stars of tomorrow are nurtured more carefully.

“Kumar and Mahela are still playing all over the world but they will have a significant influence with how we shape things,” he said.

“I want to be able to talk to past players, past captains to understand the culture of Sri Lankan cricket.

“There is a system in place that is quite reactive at the moment and we have to get the right people in the right places – but that’s about patience and time.”

Indeed despite his success at Kent, Willis concedes it will be more than a copy-and-paste job for a Sri Lanka side that has only beaten Associate nations Afghanistan and the UAE in their last 16 games across all formats.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside some great coaches and great players so you learn from experience,” he added.

“From a Kent point of view, things have worked pretty well and there are practices that I’ll be looking to bring over.”