Sri Lanka close to Penney appointment

Sri Lanka Cricket is lining up former-India fielding coach Trevor Penney for a temporary assistant and fielding coach dual-role ahead of the 2015 World Cup, an SLC official confirmed. The board has been in talks with other candidates, including Notthinghamshire assistant coach Wayne Noon, about the assistant coach position but Penney has emerged as the clear first choice.

"We have been talking to Penney and, if that is going to work, we will have an assistant-cum-fielding coach," SLC assistant secretary Hirantha Perera said. "We are talking to him for a position that would take him up to the World Cup."

If appointed in the role, Penney would fill the vacancies created by former assistant coach Marvan Atapattu's promotion to the head coach job, as well as the fielding coach position that SLC had advertised in July. Former fielding coach Ruwan Kalpage chose to take a job with the Bangladesh national team instead of pursuing reappointment in his position.

Penney is understood to have been approached partly because of his familiarity with the Sri Lanka set-up, as he had previously worked as assistant coach under Tom Moody, until 2007. In that time, he also earned a stellar reputation, particularly among Sri Lanka's senior players. Penney had been India's fielding coach from 2011 until he was asked to leave his post following India's Test series defeat in England this year. He was offered a role with India's National Cricket Academy but chose to end his contract instead.

Noon is understood to be a longer-term prospect for the assistant coach role, although Penney's continued involvement following the World Cup has also not been ruled out. Noon, a former first-class wicketkeeper-batsman, has built a record as a quiet, hard-working coach with Notthinghamshire, and has expressed significant interest in a position with Sri Lanka.

These developments are the latest in the shake-up of Sri Lanka's coaching set-up that has occurred since Paul Farbrace left the head coach role in April.