Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has appointed former Australian cricketer Jamie Siddons as the new head coach of the the women’s team. Siddons, a Level 3 qualified coach, will  officially begin his one-year tenure on March 16, 2026.

Siddons takes over from outgoing coach Rumesh Ratnayake, who had quietly concluded his tenure at the end of 2025. And he will be building on some solid foundations.

Appointed in February 2023, Ratnayake oversaw the transformation of the women’s team from bottom-of-the-table scrappers to a regularly competitive force.

While they remain a notch below top tier sides such as Australia and India in terms of consistency, under his guidance, Sri Lanka secured their best-ever return – a historic Asia Cup title in 2024, defeating India in the final.

The inconsistency of the side however was on display throughout his term, as the team struggled at the 2024 T20 World Cup, exiting in the group stage without a win. And despite other highs, including series wins against South Africa and England, the side seemed to have plateaud following a middling home 50-over home World Cup in October.

Siddons however will be taking over a youthful side in the midst of a good run of form, with them this month completing ODI and T20I series wins against West Indies.

His immediate focus will be preparing the squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup set to be held in England this June. His first official assignment is a tour of Bangladesh in April-May.

He brings over two decades of high-level coaching experience to the role, most notably serving as the head coach of the Bangladesh men’s side from 2007-2011, where he lead them to their first overseas Test series win against West Indies.

“Siddons has also served as Head Coach of the South Australia Cricket Team (Redbacks) from 2015 to 2020 and Head Coach of the Wellington Firebirds, New Zealand, from 2011 to 2015,” added an SLC media release.

In his playing career Siddons was a prolific run-scorer in Australian domestic cricket, captaining both South Australia and Victoria, finishing his career with over 10,000 Sheffield Shield runs.

(Cricinfo)

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 06 MARCH 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 06 March 2026. by the Department of Meteorology

Misty conditions can be expected at some places in the  Northern, North-central, Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and North-western provinces during the early hours of the morning.

Showers or thundershowers are likely at a few places in the Southern province and in Rathnapura, and Kaluthara districts during evening or night. Mainly dry weather will prevail over other parts of the island.

A day after a US submarine sunk an Iranian Navy warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, the Foreign Minister of Iran, Sayed Abbas Araghchi, has warned that the US would “pay bitterly” for targeting a ship in international waters, The Tribune has reported.

Araghchi posted on social media platform X on Thursday saying, “The US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores.”

The frigate IRIS Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning, said the Iran Foreign Minister, adding, “Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set.”

US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, on Wednesday confirmed that a US submarine fired a torpedo and sank the Iranian Navy vessel IRIS Dena west of Sri Lanka.

In a way, the Iran and US-Israel conflict has reached close to the Indian coast. The strike today at sea was almost 4,000 kms away from Iran, significantly expanding the radius of war. Already, fearing Iranian missile strikes, several US warships have moved eastward towards India.

These ships are in international waters. India has denied that any US Navy assets were using Indian ports. The Iranian ship, hit on Wednesday, was returning after participating in the international fleet review and exercise Milan hosted by India at Visakhapatnam.

The Iranian ship went down with almost 130 sailors on board missing. The Sri Lankan Navy, acting on a distress call, rescued 32 of the Iranian sailors. Hegseth confirmed the act by the US forces, saying the ship was hit in the Indian Ocean, stating, “an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. .. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo”.

Hegseth did not name the Iranian ship that was attacked. But earlier, the Sri Lankan Navy reported the distress call from IRIS Dena when it was some 40 kms west of Galle, located on the south-western part of the island country. On February 16, the Iranian ship had sailed into the port of Visakhapatnam, where seventy-four nations participated.

Warships from Australia, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and dozens of others were anchored alongside the now-sunk Iranian vessel. Iran’s Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, held talks with India’s Chief of Naval Staff on strengthening maritime security cooperation.

The theme was “United through Oceans.” Notably, the US Navy was supposed to send the guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney to the exercise Milan; however, the ship was diverted to Singapore on February 15. The US did not field its warship in Milan, which had ships from Russia and Iran.

The exercise ended on February 25. Three days later, on February 28, the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury. The IRIS Dena was transiting home. This morning at 5:08 a.m. local time, the IRIS Dena issued a distress call. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Vijitha Herath, informed parliament that two navy vessels and an aircraft were deployed. Thirty crew members were rescued and admitted to Karapitiya Hospital in Galle.

The Straits Times reported 32 critically wounded survivors. Reuters reported 101 missing and 78 wounded. The Sri Lankan Navy spokesman said the operation was conducted in line with the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue.