Bayliss to help out in hiring assistant coach

Trevor Bayliss, Sri Lanka's new coach, has been asked by Sri Lanka Cricket to recommend a few names to be the team's assistant coach.

K Mathivanan, the secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket, said Bayliss had agreed to help and has been given time till June 29 to come up with candidates of his choice.

Rumesh Ratnayake, the former Sri Lanka fast bowler, was expected to take on the job but changed his mind - citing family reasons - after signing a four-year contract with Sri Lanka Cricket.

Mathivanan said that there was no truth in the reports that SLC had approached South African Jonty Rhodes and Australian Greg Blewett for the job.

Bayliss is due to take over as head coach of Sri Lanka in September on a two-year contract. He succeeds Tom Moody, who quit at the end of his two-year contract at the end of May to take up a coaching assignment in Western Australia.

Trevor Penney, who was Moody's assistant, is also due to join him. Penney was picked by Moody as his assistant after negotiations to woo Ratnayake failed in 2005. Penney, whose contract with the SLC expires at the end of August, is handling the team in the current series against Bangladesh.