The Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) on Friday requested Sports Minister Harin Fernando to allow national team head coach Chandika Hathurasingha to continue until the upcoming New Zealand Series, Cricket Age reliably learns.
On the behalf of the SLC ExCo committee, board office bearers met Harin at Sports Ministry and after a two hour long meeting, the formal appeal were made by the board requesting the same.
“Sri Lanka Cricket’s Executive Committee today made an appeal to Honorable Sports Minister Harin Fernando to give time till the end of the New Zealand Series to carry out his ‘Directive’ to the board, pertaining to the change of the ‘Coaching Staff’ of the National Team. The appeal was made this afternoon, following a meeting the SLC Executive Committee had with the Honorable Minister” a top Sports Ministry official told Cricket Age.
On Tuesday, Harin had said that Hathurusingha would be given time until the start of Sri Lanka’s home Test series against New Zealand, which begins on August 14, to quit and make way for a new coach.
“Before the New Zealand Test series we will have a new coach,” Fernando had said in Colombo.
Following Sri Lanka’s disappointing World Cup, where they finished in sixth-place, Hathurusingha and his assistants were expected to be shown the door.
The first Test against New Zealand will be played in Galle starting August 14, and the second will begin on August 22 at Colombo’s P Sara stadium.
Three T20s will be played on August 31, September 2 and September 6.
