Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu in 2007. Photo: Sebastian Costanzo <\/p>\n
COLOMBO Sri Lanka Cricket have appointed former Test captain Marvan Atapattu as the head coach, making him the island nation's seventh coach in the last four years. <\/p>\n
A selection committee interviewed Atapattu, 43, and one other candidate on Tuesday before recommending him for the job, a news release from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Wednesday said. <\/p>\n
The SLC executive committee then \"unanimously approved and appointed Mr. Marvan Attapattu to the position of national head coach... with immediate effect\", the release said. <\/p>\n
Atapattu had served as the interim coach for three months before his full-time appointment on Wednesday, guiding the team during the recent series against England, South Africa and Pakistan. <\/p>\n
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The former batsman replaces Englishman Paul Farbrace who quit in April after just four months on the job to take over as England's deputy coach under Peter Moores. <\/p>\n
Sri Lanka are set to play seven ODIs against England from November 26 as part of their build-up to the 2015 World Cup being hosted by Australia and New Zealand. <\/p>\n
They are also due to tour New Zealand in December and January. <\/p>\n
A prolific right-hander, Atapattu scored 5,502 runs from 90 Tests, including six double-hundreds, after making his debut against India in 1990. <\/p>\n
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Sri Lanka pick Marvan Atapattu as head coach<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu in 2007. Photo: Sebastian Costanzo COLOMBO Sri Lanka Cricket have appointed former Test captain Marvan Atapattu as the head coach, making him the island nation's seventh coach in the last four years. A selection committee interviewed Atapattu, 43, and one other candidate on Tuesday before recommending him for the job, a news release from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Wednesday said. Continue reading