Chris Adams to work with Sri Lanka

Former Surrey coach Chris Adams has been appointed as a consultant for Sri Lanka for their upcoming tour of England. SLC had conducted a search for a coach with English experience since losing Paul Farbrace's services last week, and have settled on Adams, who played 331 first-class matches, scoring 48 hundreds, in addition to his five Tests and five ODIs.

The appointment was made on the recommendation of a three-man panel comprising chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, head of coaching Jerome Jayaratne and chairman of the cricket committee Ranjit Fernando - the same trio that had also recommended Marvan Atapattu be appointed interim coach.

Both the consultant and interim coach appointments were rubber-stamped by the SLC executive committee on Monday, an official release said. Ruwan Kalpage's interim role as assistant coach was also confirmed until the end of South Africa's July tour of Sri Lanka.

"Chris can give us lot of tactical input as to how the wickets will play and more importantly on the opposition players," Jayasuriya told The Island. "He has been in the English system for quite a long time and he can offer us lot of things throughout the tour.

"Guys like Marvan, Ruwan and Chaminda Vaas, who are in our coaching staff will benefit by his presence. Vaasy is a guy who has lot of experience of English conditions having played numerous seasons of county cricket, and we can't forget that too."

Adams had become Surrey coach in 2008, but a poor start to the 2013 county season following a string of mediocre results in previous years, contributed to his mid-season removal. Sri Lanka's former coach Graham Ford eventually replaced him, after Alec Stewart had borne the coach role temporarily in 2013.

One of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year in 2004, Adams had been a highly successful captain at Sussex, whom he led to their first County Championship title in 2003, then again in 2006 and 2007, as well as to limited-overs titles. Known for his bruising strokeplay, Adams had hit 19,535 first-class runs at 38.68.

He will be hoping to help Sri Lanka outwit an England side coached by Peter Moores who Adams formed a strong partnership with at Sussex as captain and coach. Moores, subsequently also a Championship winner with Lancashire, was reappointed as England coach last week - having previously held that position between 2007 and 2009.

Sri Lanka will hope Adams' local knowledge, gleaned over 20 years as a player and five as a coach, will aid them in their travels, particularly in the Tests at Lords and Headingley. They play one T20I, five ODIs and two Tests against England, starting on May 22.