Sri Lanka appoint Chaminda Vaas as their fast bowling coach for West Indies tour

Sri Lanka have roped in their former fast bowler Chaminda Vaas as their fast-bowling coach for the upcoming tour of West Indies. Sri Lanka are scheduled to visit the Caribbean for a full-fledged series next month. The schedule of the tour was confirmed by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) earlier this week.

Vaas’ appointment comes in the wake of David Saker’s resignation as Sri Lanka’s fast bowling coach with immediate effect. SLC confirmed the news of Saker’s resignation through a media release on Thursday. The 54-year-old former Australian, who was roped in by Sri Lanka in December 2019, parted ways with SLC citing personal reasons.

Meanwhile, Vaas is not new to coaching. In October 2012, he had coached the New Zealand fast bowlers during their tour of Sri Lanka. In the following year, he was appointed as bowling coach for the Sri Lankan team and remained at the post till 2015. In January 2016, Ireland roped him as their bowling coach.

Later, he had stints with the Sri Lankan team again and was recently serving as a fast bowling coach at Sri Lanka’s High-Performance Center. He was working with Emerging and National Team Players. Vaas is one of the most decorated fast-bowlers to have played for Sri Lanka. During his illustrious international career, he picked up 355 Test wickets in 111 matches and 400 ODI wickets in 322 games.

Itinerary for Sri Lanka’s tour of West Indies

Sri Lanka will tour West Indies for three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests. They will leave for West Indies on the 23rd of February while the series will start on March 3. Sri Lanka’s departure had to be postponed after their head coach Mickey Arthur and batsman Lahiru Thirimanne were tested positive for Covid-19.

The upcoming series will mark the return of international cricket in the Caribbean. West Indies have not played a home series since January 2020. The entirety of the series will be played in a bio-secure environment in Antigua at Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) and Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS).

The tour will start with three T20s from 3 to 7 March, before three ODIs take place from 10 to 14 March. Sri Lanka will then play a two-day warm-up match on 17-18 March, before the first Test starts from 21 March. The second Test is scheduled to start on 29 March.