Sri Lanka name Atapattu as batting coach
COLOMBO (AFP) – Former captain Marvan Atapattu has been appointed as Sri Lanka’s batting coach, the cricket board said on Tuesday.
Atapattu, 40, joins interim coach Stuart Law for next month’s tour of England, where Sri Lanka will play three Tests, five one-day internationals and one Twenty20.
Sri Lanka Cricket said it would name a full-time successor for Australian coach Trevor Bayliss after the end of the England tour.
Bayliss ended his four-year stint in the wake of Sri Lanka’s defeat to India in the World Cup final in Mumbai earlier this month.
Atapattu’s appointment comes a day after Tillakaratne Dilshan was named captain for the England tour following Kumar Sangakkara’s resignation.
Atapattu played the last of his 90 Tests in November 2007 and also featured in 268 one-dayers during his 17-year career.
The stylish right-hand batsman played the rebel Indian Cricket League towards the end of his career before taking over coaching assignments which included a stint with Singapore in 2010.
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