Sri Lanka great Sanath Jayasuriya’s coaching style revealed before Australia Test series

Cricket icon Sanath Jaysuriya followed up his playing days with a sex tape controversy and a run-in with the ICC. He is back as Sri Lanka’s coach and he has turned their cricket around.

The most famous name in the Sri Lankan camp for this Test series against Australia won’t face or bowl a ball.

Though the hosts’ squad features veterans Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews and other seasoned international players like Kusal Mendis and captain Dhananjaya de Silva.

Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya destroyed Australia on debut in mid-2022 and has been a raging success in the ensuing two and a half years.

But none of that group is likely to cut through with Aussie audiences like Jayasuriya’s namesake - though no relation - the iconic former Sri Lankan opener and skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, appointed the side’s full-time coach in October having taken over on an interim basis in July.

Sanath Jayasuriya in action against Australia in 2004. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Though he has also dabbled in politics, this is not Jayasuriya’s first involvement with the national side since a storied international career that cut across four decades ended in 2011.

He was chief selector in 2014 when Sri Lanka broke through to become Twenty20 world champions.

The intervening years have been dotted with scandal, including a leaked sex tape and an ICC ban for refusing to cooperate with anti-corruption investigators.

But since taking over as coach, Jayasuriya steered the team to breakthrough one-day series wins against India and New Zealand, a rare Test victory in England and a 2-0 Test series win over the Black Caps.

South Africa halted some of that momentum in a Test series late last year, but Jayasuriya’s long-time teammate Chaminda Vaas says the left-handed destroyer’s coaching style would mirror his hyper-aggressive batting.

Sanath Jayasuriya was given a guard of honour by Australian players on his final tour of the country in 2008. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

“When it comes to whether it’s Test cricket or one-day cricket, or any format he likes to dominate. So from the beginning, I think that’s the approach he has. And you know, the boys are doing pretty well with his coaching role, and as a as a person, because I’ve been playing with him for many, many years, and he’s very determined.

“He never gives up, and he to win all the time. So that’s the good thing about him. And I know that, you know, he’s doing a great job at the moment.”

Vaas says Jayasuriya’s coaching style is more about a holistic approach than technical knowhow.

“Being a coach you need to guide the players, and just to motivate. And when it come to international level you don’t need to coach them. They know exactly what to do but the most important thing is the mindset and how you play the Test cricket for five days.

“So he’s brilliant when it comes to that, and he has been doing really well since he started coaching.”