Sri Lanka head coach Paul Farbrace who was linked to the vacant post of assistant coach of England over the weekend, has informed his current employer Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that he will be returning to the country Monday (April 21), SLC CEO Ashley de Silva told Ceylon Today last afternoon.
Asked whether Farbrace, 46, will be here to tend his resignation from his current post after being offered the role of deputy to England head coach Peter Moores by the ECB last Saturday, the SLC CEO said they will need to first discuss with the Englishman before proceeding.
De Silva said that Farbrace, the mastermind behind Sri Lanka’s two significant triumphs in Bangladesh – the Asia Cup and the World T20, besides losing only one match out of 18, across all formats in the past two month period, had not indicated to SLC that he will be in Colombo to tender his resignation from his current post as head coach of Sri Lanka.
“Paul (Farbrace) will be here tomorrow (Monday) and we will need to talk to him,” de Silva said Sunday.
“We have to find out from him under what circumstances his name had been linked to the England coaching set up and whether he intends to resign from his current post, and what further action we have to take in the event of his resignation.”
De Silva said that other than from the ECB, Sri Lanka Cricket had not been intimated of any move by Farbrace, to join the England coaching staff just two-and-a-half months into his current two-year stint with Sri Lanka. However, Ashley de Silva de Silva could not be drawn as to who would replace Farbrace, in the event of the Englishman deciding to head back home to link up with Peter Moores charges.
Farbrace was among the Yorkshire coaching staff before he joined the national cricket team. He joined Sri Lanka before his contract had expired with Yorkshire and SLC had to compensate the English county by hosting the team on a pre-season tour of the island for a sum of Rs 8 million.
Meanwhile, informed sources said that Farbrace’s contract carries an exit-clause, which requires the coach to give the board six months’ notice before leaving his position.
SLC had had no inkling that former Kent’s director of cricket may not continue in his current role, until British news outlets reported his possible move to England on Friday.
Farbrace’s contract began on January 1 this year, but he only took charge of the team before their tour of Bangladesh, which began on January 24, having previously been assistant coach to the Sri Lanka team under Trevor Bayliss from 2007 to 2009.
He was wounded along with seven Sri Lankan players in March 2009 when a dozen gunmen opened fire on their team bus in Lahore, Pakistan.
He left his post soon after the attack, in which he was struck by a piece of shrapnel in his right arm, to become Kent’s director of cricket.
