Sri Lanka appoint former stumper Nic Pothas as interim coach

Following the resignation of Graham Ford, Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) have appointed Nic Pothas as an interim coach for the imminent home series against Zimbabwe followed by India. Pothas is a former South African international with an experience of playing more than 200 first class games.

Ford retires, Pothas to coach Sri Lanka

Ford shockingly stepped down from his position just 15 months into the three-year contract which expired at the end of the 2019 World Cup. It is said that the 56-year old had run-ins with SLC and expressed his concerns of not being fully in control if the team. Sri Lanka were crushed out of the just-concluded ICC Champions Trophy in the group stages managing just one win from 3 group games. Ford had previously coached Sri Lanka between 2012 and 2014.

Pothas, like Ford, is also a South African and is a wicket keeper by trade. The long career of Mark Boucher did not allow Pothas to become a regular member of the South Africa side, though he played in 3 ODIs in August 2000. He has more than 600 catches to his name in 218 first class games. The right-hander has an average in the north of 40 in 340 innings scoring 11,438 runs including 24 centuries.

Jayawardene short on experience

There were talks of fast tracking Mahela Jayawardene as the coach of the national side but the SLC dismissed the possibility by saying that the former captain doesn’t have the experience for becoming the coach of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is set to host Zimbabwe for 5 ODIs starting on June 30 at the Galle International Stadium. Both teams will also play a one-off Test at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo starting July 14. India will visit the Island for a full tour which consists of 3 test matches, 5 ODIs and a solitary T20.

The performance of Pothas will be assessed at the end of both these series. If he gives the right results, he might get an extension.