Arjun Ranatunga also feels that the increasing scrutiny of cricket corruption in Sri Lanka in recent years has colored his country in a negative light.
Former World Cup-winning captain Arjun Ranatunga gave the slogan to Sri Lanka Cricket on Wednesday, accusing him of hiring “garbage” foreign coaches while ignoring local talent. Sri Lanka won the World Cup once in 1996 – and were runners-up to Australia and India in 2007 and 2011 respectively. In the most recent tournament in 2019, he did not make it out of the group stage. “We spend large amounts to import garbage cans,” Ranatunga said, adding that foreign imports were partly responsible for the national team’s low ranking in all formats of the game.
“The country has good (coaching) talent, but they are going abroad because there is no recognition for them at home.”
Ranatunga said former national players such as his 1996 vice-captain Arvinda de Silva, as well as Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Atapattu, were among the best batting coaches in the world.
While the 57-year-old has not named any foreign coaches, the team is currently coached by South African Mickey Arthur.
Ranatunga was marking the silver jubilee of the 1996 victory at a national event organized by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The country’s governing body last month appointed former Australia Test player Tom Moody, who had coached Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2007, with a mentor tasked with reviving the game and rebuilding the national team.
Other former foreign coaches included Bruce Yardley, John Dyson, Paul Farbrace, Graham Ford, and Geoff Marsh.
The 1996 World Cup-winning coach was Sri Lankan-origin Australian Dave Whitmore.
Former National Test star Chandika Hathurusingha coached Sri Lanka from 2018 to 2019 but was sacked after the team’s disappointing World Cup exit that year.
He was previously a coach in Bangladesh and is currently an assistant coach for the stateside New South Wales in Australia.
Ranatunga said that the increasing scrutiny on cricket corruption in Sri Lanka in recent years has colored his country in a negative light.
In 2019, the then Sports Minister Harin Fernando introduced strict anti-corruption legislation, after stating that the International Cricket Council considered Sri Lanka to be the most corrupt cricketing nation.
