Few days after expressing his displeasure over Sri Lanka’s selection policies, interim coach Nic Pothas has said he is “pleased” with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
After the nine-wicket defeat in the first ODI at Dambulla, Pothas had said:
“You do get angry – to say ‘too many cooks’ is probably accurate. You get frustrated. Am I angry with the players? Absolutely not. The players work as hard as anyone can ask of them. They’ve been superb. Support staff have been out of this world. Brilliant. They work endless hours with planning and helping the boys. You can’t fault anyone within that changing room.”
“When you get consistency within a team of players, you will see improvements in performance,” he had added. “When we’re getting new players every game, it gets very difficult from a confidence point of view. From the player’s point of view it’s very difficult. It’s difficult for us – the coaching staff – to create a strategy.”
Pothas’ comments came less than two months after Graham Ford quit as head coach due to similar circumstances. And while Ford refrained from making any comments, Pothas spoke out, hinting the reasons which made the former head coach step down.
However, ahead of the crucial second ODI against India, Pothas said that he is happy with the “supportive” cricket board and the dressing room.
“It should be stated that I am very happy with everything that’s going on within our four walls in that changing room, and just to clarify things, I am very happy with the situation with the board,” Pothas said. “The board has been hugely supportive of everything that I do and what the players do. They continue to support us. Certainly, I have no issues there.”
Pothas had expressed his frustration after the drubbing in the first match but sounded optimistic on this occasion, as Sri Lanka needs to win two of the four remaining games to ensure an automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup.
“We are in a position at the moment that England, India and Australia all have found themselves in. We have learnt from them and spoken to them. We are very confident about how we are going about our work. As of tomorrow we just keep and come on keep on fighting,” he said.
“In 2014 India were in the same situation. When you’ve got new players and new support staff, it takes time for everyone to get used to each other. I don’t know what the time frames are, but all I know is that if we keep doing what we are doing at the moment, you’ll see results pretty soon,” he added.
The former South Africa international further said he is “ecstatic with the fitness level of the team”. The players have been criticised recently for their fitness with Sri Lanka’s sports minister leading the charge.
“I am ecstatic with the fitness levels of our team,” Pothas said. “I have a very close friend whom I speak to a lot our fitness levels and the numbers we put out there are a lot better than a lot of countries in the world.”