Sri Lanka name Bell as batting coach for England tour

COLOMBO, Aug 13 (AFP): Former England player Ian Bell was named Tuesday as Sri Lanka's batting coach for the three-match Test series against England.

Sri Lanka Cricket said the 42-year-old former right-hand batter was hired to draw on his experience of playing 118 Tests for England.

"We appointed Ian to bring in a person with local knowledge to help the players with key insights on the conditions there," Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley de Silva said.

"We believe his inputs will help our team in this crucial tour."

Sri Lanka appointed former skipper Sanath Jayasuriya last month to replace head coach Chris Silverwood, who quit following the country's early exit from the T20 World Cup.

Jayasuriya, 55, will be the "interim" coach until a full-time appointment is made for the national team.

Jayasuriya represented Sri Lanka 586 times across the three formats of the game, hitting 42 centuries and taking 440 wickets. He played his last international in 2011.

Former England coach Silverwood, 49, quit for "personal reasons", according to Sri Lanka Cricket.

Sri Lanka won only one match at the T20 World Cup tournament, against the Netherlands, and finished third in their group behind South Africa and Bangladesh.

Silverwood took over in April 2022 and enjoyed immediate success when Sri Lanka won the T20 Asia Cup that year.

Sri Lanka then reached the final of the 50-over Asia Cup in 2023.

However, they failed to make it to the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup in 2022 and last year's 50-over World Cup.

Bell's coaching stints have been on the rise in recent times. He has been part of the coaching setup for Derbyshire, Warwickshire and England's U19 side. Last year, he took up the role of consultant for New Zealand's men's side before the ODI World Cup in India. Bell has also been an active part of the Big Bash League where he had been part of the coaching staffs of Melbourne Renegades and Hobart Hurricanes.