Harsha De Silva appointed as head coach of Sri Lanka

As Hemantha Devapriya, the previous head coach of Sri Lanka Women's Cricket Team resigned five months before the end of his stipulated contract earlier this year, there was a search for the Head Coach for the team. Harsha de Silva is now appointed as Sri Lankan Women's Team Head Coach, reprising the work he had performed from 2010 to 2013. He is expected to serve for two years starting August 15.



Harsha De Silva is a former Sri Lankan first-class cricketer who played for Colts Cricket Club in 14 first-class cricket matches between 1991 to 1996 and has scored 260 with an average of 16.25 and took 11 wickets in his career.



After retiring from first-class cricket, he started his career as a cricket coach for school cricketers. In 2001 he was appointed as cricket coach for St. Joseph's College. He is still known for mentoring some current Sri Lankan cricketers like Angelo Mathews, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thisara Perera, Chamari Athapaththu and Shashikala Siriwardene.



He spent three years as head coach of the Sri Lankan women's team from 2010 to 2013. De Silva, who is a Cricket Australia Level 3 Accredited Coach, currently serves as the Women’s Head Coach of the Valleys District Cricket Club in Brisbane, Australia.



With the T20 World Cup in November, his return to the team is considered as an important happening in Sri Lankan cricket. It will be interesting to see how De Silva will help his team to bounce back from the defeats they have faced after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2017.