The 55-year old Graham Ford will take up the role of Sri Lanka Cricket Head Coach for the second time from 1st of February.
The South African previously coached the island nation from 2012 to 2014 before joining Surrey Cricket Club. Sri Lanka have since been coached by Paul Farbrace, Marvan Atapattu and Jerome Jayaratne, the latter appointed on an interim basis in September.
Under his reign, Surrey got promoted back to the First Division of the County Championship in 2014 and reached the final of the Royal London One Day Cup in the following season. He was also instrumental bringing Kevin Pietersen and Kumar Sangakkara to the club.
Surrey’s Director of Cricket, Alec Stewart confirmed the news on their official website, “Surrey County Cricket Club can confirm that Graham Ford is leaving the club to take up the post of Sri Lanka head coach. 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.”
Ford, who has also worked for Kent and South Africa, was shortlisted for the England coach’s job in 2009, with that role eventually going to Andy Flower.
“It was a very tough decision for Graham to leave Surrey but we understand that the opportunity to go back and coach at International level with Sri Lanka was too good to turn down. Despite the timing of his decision, we wish Graham all the best and we will immediately start our search for a new Head Coach.” Former English wicket-keeper further said.
During the previous two-year stint under Ford, Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan to win their first Test series in 3 years and also reached the final of the World T20.
After the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka has been disappointing with their performances, winning only against West Indies in the latter part of 2015.
Sri Lanka Cricket is yet to make an official announcement on the appointment. Ford’s first assignment would be the three-match Indian T20 series which starts on 9th February.
