(Reuters) – Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has brought on board former captain and batting legend Sanath Jayasuriya as a ‘cricket consultant’ for a period of one year, marking the 54-year-old’s return after a two-year suspension under the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption code.
Jayasuriya’s role will involve ensuring that SLC’s national programs attain an “optimum level of professionalism” and monitoring all players and coaching staff to deliver excellence, the SLC added.
“Jayasuriya will also establish national specialist skills programs with key staff aligned to lead roles within each skill discipline among several other tasks,” the SLC said in a statement.
The former chairman of selectors was banned from all cricket in 2019 after the global governing body found him guilty of breaching two counts of its anti-corruption code, including his unwillingness to cooperate with investigations.
Jayasuriya, known for scoring nearly 7,000 runs in tests and over 13,000 in ODIs, stated at the time that while he admitted the charges, there were “no allegations of corruption, betting or misuse of inside information”.
His appointment, effective immediately, comes shortly after SLC named a new selection committee with former opener Upul Tharanga as the head and former player Ajantha Mendis included.
Sri Lanka had a disappointing 50-overs World Cup in India, managing only two wins out of nine games to finish ninth in the 10-team table.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
