Wood, Ferdinands, Kandamby and Wijetunge to work with SL's national side on 'rotational basis'

Sri Lanka Cricket has clarified that the appointments of Julian Wood and Rene Ferdinands as national batting and bowling coaches will not impact the continued roles of Thilina Kandamby and Piyal Wijetunge within SLC's coaching structure, and that each coach will link up with the men's national side on a "rotational basis".

"All these coaches, they are not being specified to say that they would be working with the national team," SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said. "They work as the national coaches, but that does not mean they should work [solely] with the [men's] national team.

"Across the board, there are national teams, no? So on a rotational basis, tour by tour, we will decide who will be joining the teams. That's how the high-performance centre operates now. That does not mean each person would only work with a particular team. Other than the head coach and a few other members, the rest of them would be rotated."

This sort of rotational set-up is unusual in world cricket, with the closest equivalent being that of South Africa, who have a batting and bowling lead - Imran Khan and Paul Adams - who occasionally get deployed to national sides across the board, though most of their work is done in the high-performance centre.

Wood had been brought on board on a one-year contract following a week-long "power-hitting programme" earlier this year with various national squads. The players - both men and women - are understood to have been impressed with Wood's input. Ferdinands, a biomechanics expert, also has a hefty pedigree, having previously worked with the BCCI's National Cricket Academy and as a biomechanics consultant with New Zealand Cricket.

Kandamby has been Sri Lanka's batting coach since December 2023, while Wijetunge has been a fixture at SLC, having been a spin-bowling coach since February 2006. Their roles had come under scrutiny after Sri Lanka's T20I series defeat to Bangladesh in July, but de Silva was clear in establishing their continued role within the national set-up.

"They work in the organisation, [it is] not that their contracts have been terminated," he said. "It doesn't matter wherever they have been assigned; they should be prepared to work."

"Even they [Wood and Ferdinands] have been designated the same way, so they would be working across the board. Depending on the tours, we, the ExCo [executive committee] will decide who should go on tour."

Sri Lanka's next touring assignment is an ODI series in Pakistan in November, followed by a T20I tri-series there involving Zimbabwe. According to de Silva, no decision has been taken as yet on which coaching pair will accompany the side on the tour.