England’s new assistant coach Paul Farbrace will have “mixed feelings” about taking on former employers Sri Lanka next month but felt the chance to work with his own national side was too good to turn down.
Farbrace met up with returning head coach Peter Moores and a handful of players at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough on Thursday, just 24 hours after his release from Sri Lanka Cricket was completed.
The former Kent wicketkeeper had only been in his previous post since December, during which time he had led the Sri Lankans to success in the Asia Cup and World Twenty20.
His departure after such a brief but successful tenure, and on the eve of the Sri Lankans’ tour of Ireland and England, has caused some consternation in Colombo.
Farbrace, who also worked as Sri Lanka’s assistant coach before returning to work with Yorkshire’s second XI, admits the switch has come at an awkward time for all concerned but could not resist the lure of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
“It doesn’t look great from the outside, someone leaving a job after four months, and I understand from a Sri Lankan point of view that there is disappointment because it was a successful time,” he told BBC Radio Five.
“I understand there will be that disappointment but as I went back to explain to them on Monday, the opportunity to work with my own team, my own country, and be working from home was an offer I couldn’t really refuse.
“The opportunity to work with your own national team is almost beyond your wildest dreams. It’s a fantastic opportunity and a great time to be involved.
“There was some disappointment but most people in the room understood the situation. I like to think we finish on reasonably good terms.
“It will be interesting for me and the players that the series in a couple of weeks is against Sri Lanka and there will be some mixed feelings because I built some good relationships - not just this time but the previous time - with the players.
“As a coach you do make good, strong relationships and they’re not easy things to put to one side when you’re playing against them.”
Having had the details of his appointment ironed out in time to get to work with Moores this week, Farbrace is now enthused about the challenge ahead.
“I still feel I’m developing as a coach and I’ve got a lot to learn from someone like Peter Moores in this situation,” he said.
“I would like to think Peter will be in the job for many years to come and in a really successful period for England cricket, for the players and for Peter, and it would be great to be a to play a very small part in that.”
Atapattu will coach Sri Lanka during England and South Africa series
Former batsman Marvan Atapattu will coach Sri Lanka on the upcoming tour of England, it was announced on Friday.
The 43-year-old will step into the shoes of Paul Farbrace, who vacated the position on Wednesday in order to take up a place on the staff of new England coach Peter Moores.
The Sri Lanka Cricket Board confirmed the news in a short statement, adding that Atapattu would be assisted by Ruwan Kalpage, the former spinner and current fielding coach, for both the England series and the subsequent one against South Africa.
It gives Atapattu a chance to make a real claim for the job on a permanent basis, having been overlooked after an interview when Farbrace was given the position in December.
Atapattu played 90 Test matches for his country with an average of 39, scoring 16 hundreds along the way. He also won 268 one-day caps, scoring over 14,000 runs combined.
Sri Lanka head to Europe at the start of May for a two-match ODI series in Ireland, before a number of county commitments.
They will face first Farbrace in a Twenty20 clash on May 20, before five one-dayers and two Tests at Lord’s and Headingley.
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Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
Uefa Champions League play-off
First leg: Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Ajax v Dynamo Kiev
Second leg: Tuesday, August 28, 11pm (UAE)
Dynamo Kiev v Ajax
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs: 2018 Audi RS5
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Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6
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Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
GAC GS8 Specs
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Specs
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