Atapattu still in line for SL job

Marvan Atapattu is a strong contender to become Sri Lanka's head coach, as the search for the job moved to its final stages, amid controversy. The coach-selection committee selected Atapattu as one of its two final candidates, but the meeting that arrived at those decisions was not attended by chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, who had resigned from his position in the committee late on Tuesday morning.

The board has not named the other remaining candidate, but the coach-selection committee will interview him on Tuesday afternoon, before making its final recommendation on Wednesday. That recommendation will then need to be ratified by the executive committee at their meeting on the same day, before the appointment is official. The committee had already interviewed Atapattu on Tuesday morning.

Jayasuriya's resignation had come as a surprise to most in the 11-member committee, and is a significant shift for the coach-selection process because Jayasuriya had been among those taking the lead in finding and interviewing candidates for the position. He had also been among the strongest voices and key decision-makers in the Sri Lanka setup since his appointment as selector in early 2013.

Jayasuriya said there was nothing more to his resignation than "personal reasons". In an email sent to SLC on Tuesday, however, he had expressed dismay that factions within the coach selection committee had publicly "given the impression that my sole intention was to appoint a foreign coach". In the email, he had also suggested that there appeared to be a perception that selecting the strongest candidate to oversee the World Cup campaign was not the only consideration for some committee members.

Atapattu had been the sole local candidate for the position, and has been strongly considered because of his intimate knowledge of the Sri Lankan system and its players, and because SLC could afford him. He has also been successful in his three-month tenure as interim head coach, overseeing a major Test-series triumph in England, as well as Test and ODI series wins against Pakistan at home.

There had been concerns whether Atapattu was ready for the position, given his recent retirement from Test cricket, and his relative inexperience as a top coach. He joined the Sri Lanka staff as a batting coach in 2011 before being promoted to assistant coach under Graham Ford, in 2013.

Doubts over whether Atapattu should be put in charge of a side that featured former team-mates Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene had been among the reasons why SLC had considered making a short-term coach. It was thought this coach could stay until the end of the World Cup, after which Jayawardene and Sangakkara would likely retire from limited-overs cricket and Atapattu would be free to take the job. However, both coaches that have now been shortlisted are long-term candidates, committee members confirmed.

If Atapattu is appointed, he will become Sri Lanka's first local long-term coach since 1999, when Roy Dias oversaw that year's World Cup campaign. If the foreign coach gets the position, Sri Lanka will have its eighth coach - long-term or interim - in the last four years.