Sri Lanka’s reputation among elite cricket coaches was at a low ebb following the unceremonious sacking of Geoff Marsh in 2012. Not many people have won both the Ashes and World Cup as a player and then as a coach. Marsh was one of the two with Darren Lehman being the other. When Sri Lanka sacked Marsh after the tour of South Africa in 2011, he had just won the team’s their only Test match in the African country. Marsh successfully took legal action against SLC and the board had to pay a hefty compensation.
Courtesy Rex Clementine
Prior to that, SLC had been unkind in dealing with Chandika Hathurusinhe as well. The board’s reputation suffered further when in 2013, Steve Rixon was approached for the coaching job, but the former Australian wicket-keeper batsman criticized SLC’s lack of professionalism.
“Sri Lanka Cricket sent me a contract which was really embarrassing, I have to say, because it was so poor,” Rixon went on record saying.
In 2015, virtually with no reputed international coach willing to take up the Sri Lankan job, the board turned to their former coach Graham Ford. The South African had had one previous stint with SLC from 2012 to 2014 and turned down the offer point blank.
Ford was happy with English County Surrey, whom he had just helped gain promotion to Division 1. But SLC still had something up their sleeve. They made an SOS call to their former captain Kumar Sangakkara.
Sangakkara and Graham Ford had a special relationship. The left-hander adored the South African for his knowledge, honesty and commitment. There was no question about Sangakkara’s greatness in Test cricket, but he turned a huge corner in ODIs after Ford’s arrival.
Prior to Ford, Sangakkara averaged 36 in ODIs and had 12 hundreds. Since Ford came, he averaged 55 and scored 13 ODI hundreds. His ODI career average of 41.98 is the all time best for Sri Lanka.
“Fordy has been very insistent that we work on reverse sweeps, sweeps and paddle sweeps. We have been doing that because Fordy has designated specific net sessions for us for new kind of stroke making. We go on the bowling machine and try and paddle sweep fast bowlers,” Sangakkara said in 2013 after his career best 169 against South Africa.
It was Ford who recommended Surrey sign Sangakkara as their overseas player for the 2015 season. When SLC pleaded their former captain to speak to Ford on their behalf, he was initially reluctant. However, he agreed to convince the coach despite several confidants warning him not to do so.
When Sangakkara first made a request for Ford re-consider his decision, he was nervous given the volatile nature of Sri Lankan cricket politics. But Sangakkara assured him that the board was willing to give him a longer contract that will see him through to the 2019 World Cup.
After much persuasion, Ford agreed to go to Colombo.
“We are extremely disappointed to be losing Graham Ford who has not just been an outstanding head coach but has played an integral role in the progress that we have achieved over the last two years,” Surrey’s Director of Cricket Alec Stewart said at that point.
Under Ford, Sri Lanka’s rebuilding was steady. There was unprecedented success when the team whitewashed Australia 3-0 at home. However, injuries to key players like Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Lasith Malinga meant that the team had to struggle as South Africa whitewashed them 3-0 in Tests and 5-0 in ODIs. The worst, however was a first ever Test defeat to Bangladesh.
Ford never gave up. He was confident that the tough times were over and a full strength team could turn a new leaf soon. Reports that Mathews was fit to play Sri Lanka’s opening game of the Champions Trophy made the rounds but was told by Colombo to skip the game has shocked the fans. Mathews apparently had been cleared by the doctors. When the captain agreed to do a fitness test, Colombo shot that request down.
It is almost as if the authorities wanted Sri Lanka to have a poor campaign in the Champions Trophy so it became easier for them to make their calls with regard to the coach.
When stand-in captain Upul Tharanga was suspended for two games for a slow over rate offense during the game against South Africa, SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala placed the blame directly at the doorstep of the coach. Ford, however, could have controlled only that much from the dressing room.
Sangakkara sensed trouble and backed Ford to the hilt during the Champions Trophy.
“I am heartened by the fact that in Graham Ford, we have one of the best coaches in the world. Sri Lanka have the talent and they have the right man in charge. It’s time to allow them to freely go around doing what they can do. That is Fordy to coach cricket and players to play cricket. If you let them be in charge of doing their jobs, without too much interference, it’s going to work,” Sangakkara told Cricbuzz.
The appointment of former Test cricketer Asanka Gurusinha to the newly created position of Cricket Manager and deviating some functions of the Head Coach to Gurusinha are said to have not gone down too well with Ford.
When he met the officials in Colombo, he had indicated that there’s going to be little progress if he is not going to be given the responsibility for the team’s performance. Then he was told to either stick to status quo or leave. He opted for the latter.
