Hathurusingha becomes selector-on-tour

Sri Lanka Cricket yesterday appointed head coach Chandika Hathurusingha as a selector-on-tour, honouring a request made by the head coach prior to his appointment. He will be part of the selection panel headed by team manager Asanka Gurusinha on tour. The three-member selection panel on tour will also include the captain of the side which is responsible for the selection of the playing XI.

However, Hathurusingha who was part of the Bangladesh cricket selection panel during his previous stint will not play an official role in selecting the squad for a series which will be handled by a five-member selection committee headed by Graham Labrooy.

"Mr. Hathurusingha had lengthy discussions with us, and we found that if we are to demand a high quality of performance, we have to give him 100% backing," SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said. "Sometimes a coach might tell a player: 'Go out and get 20 runs in the next one or two overs,' and they might get out. If you look only at the statistics, that player might be dropped. But if the selectors are aware of the situation, and the coach says, 'He got out because I told him to get these runs," then [that player will get more support]. That is our thinking - to give the coach that muscle. If you expect one of the top coaches to come and help us out, we must give him the backing."

Gurusinha who is part of the main selection panel will be the chief selector on tour.

"The tour manager is the chairman of selectors on tour - that's as per our board's constitution," Sumathipala said. "That is not just peculiar to our national team, it's across all our age-group sides as well. The manager is the one who reports to us and has to justify the selections to the board. As such, the manager has that power."

Meanwhile at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on Sunday, Air Commodore Roshan Biyanwela was appointed Secretary replacing Mohan de Silva, who was vice-president in-charge of domestic cricket.

The SLC also voted to appoint an eight-member School Cricket committee within SLC. The president of that committee will also become a member of SLC's executive committee. Meanwhile the board voted down a proposal to extend their term of office from two years to four years.

Sri Lanka selectors: Graham Labrooy (chairman), Jeryl Woutersz, Gamini Wickremasinghe, Sajith Fernando, Asanka Gurusinha

Sri Lanka selectors-on-tour: Asanka Gurusinha (chairman), Chandika Hathurusingha, team captain.