Improving rankings, Chris Silverwood’s long term plan

by Rex Clementine

There’s a school of thought among those who follow Sri Lankan cricket that the country is not short of talent. There’s Kusal Mendis who with barely a handful of First Class games to his name dismantled Australia’s champion bowling attack comprising Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon as a 21-year-old. Then, there’s Niroshan Dickwella, who scoops Kagiso Rabada thunderbolts clocking 150kmph over the head of the wicketkeeper. The list goes on. However, the guidance the players get has often been questioned. Sri Lanka’s new Head Coach Chris Silverwood acknowledged that the country is not short of talent and his main aim is to work with players giving them confidence to be the best they can be. He put down his long term plan as improving on Sri Lanka’s ICC Rankings. Currently, the team is not covering themselves in glory ranked seventh in Tests, eighth in ODIs and ninth in T-20s.

Silverwood, a former Yorkshire fast bowler, is a respected coach in England having helped Essex to their first County Championship in 25 years. He was understudy to Trevor Bayliss when he joined England in 2019 and soon succeeded the Australian as Head Coach. Silverwood was in charge of England when Joe Root’s side won 2-0 in the two match Test series in Galle in 2021 January.Silverwood’s expertise is fast bowling and the young crop of quicks that we have will benefit immensely.Silverwood has been in Colombo for two weeks now and has been conducting training sessions.

The new coach’s first assignment will be Bangladesh where Sri Lanka will play two Test matches. Silverwood will have someone who knows the conditions in Bangladesh well in Navid Nawaz as his Assistant Coach. Navid is no stranger to SLC having had a long stint before joining Bangladesh Cricket Board. He coached Bangladesh Under-19 for the ICC Youth World Cup in South Africa two years ago.Nawaz at one point was tipped to become Head Coach of Sri Lanka as well, but there was a school of thought that the national team still needed a foreigner instead of a local and hence the appointment of Silverwood.Sri Lanka has a hectic schedule ahead of them with back to back home series against Australia and Pakistan soon after the Bangladesh tour. The nation is also set to host the Asia Cup prior to the ICC T-20 World Cup in Australia.