LPL 2023: Colombo Strikers announce Simon Helmot as head coach for upcoming season

Colombo, 07 June 2023: The Colombo Strikers announced their coaching staff for the upcoming season of the Lanka Premier League slated to be held in July-August 2023. The highly experienced Australian coach Simon Helmot will be the Head Coach of the Colombo Strikers, meanwhile, Jerome Jayaratne and Chaminda Vaas will work with the team as Assistant Coach and Bowling Coach respectively. 

Helmot, who has worked as a coach in several franchise leagues around the world, expressed his excitement about joining the Colombo Strikers, "I am really excited to work with Colombo Strikers as the Head Coach. I'll be coaching a team in the Lanka Premier League for the first time and I cannot wait to start a new thrilling journey. The team already has some power-packed players and we are looking forward to building a strong team in the upcoming LPL Auction."

One of the greatest fast bowlers of all time - Chaminda Vaas, who has taken over 750 wickets in international cricket, is thrilled to work with the Colombo franchise, "With my hometown being a suburb of Colombo, the city has always been close to my heart. And therefore, I am really thrilled to be the Bowling Coach of the Colombo Strikers. The Lanka Premier League has provided fantastic opportunities to youngsters all around the world and it'll be wonderful to work with amazing talents in an exciting T20 competition."

Former Sri Lanka Cricket Head of Coaching, who oversaw Sri Lanka's ICC T20 World Cup-winning campaign in 2014, expressed that he is eager to work with youngsters, "It's always exhilarating to join a new franchise. We already have fantastic local players in Matheesha Pathirana and Chamika Karunaratne and I will be looking to give more inputs on the fantastic local players' pool in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, I am eager to work with the youngsters, who will join us after the Auction."

One of the Icon Players of the Colombo Strikers - Babar Azam also shared his thoughts on the coaching staff, "The Colombo Strikers have certainly put together a robust coaching staff. Their experience will be very handy when we go through our campaign in the LPL. I am very excited to work with each of the coaches and give my best for the team in the upcoming season."

Speaking about the coaching staff announcement, Colombo Strikers team owner Sagar Khanna said, "It was imperative for us to appoint an experienced coaching group and we couldn't be happier to have Simon Helmot, Jerome Jayaratne, and Chaminda Vaas on board with us. We have got some of the greatest cricketing minds on our coaching staff and they will certainly guide the team in the right direction."

The Colombo Strikers also announced Azharuddin Qureshi as Strength and Conditioning Coach and Saif Hasan Naqvi as Head Physio of the side.