By Tara Murray
Greenvale Kangaroos have appointed Sri Lankan Test player Kaushal Silva as their coach for the Victorian Premier Cricket season.
The club announced last week that Silva, who played 39 Tests for Sri Lanka, the most recent last year, would be playing-coach this season.
Director of cricket Peter Di Venuto said it was exciting to get someone of Silva’s experience into the club.
“He last played a Test for Sri Lanka last year,” Di Venuto said.
“We’ll be looking for his experience on the field. These guys will revel in the opportunity to bat with him.
“He arrived last week and while it will take some time to get to know the playing group, he has taken it upon himself in a short period of time to get associated with the game plan.
“He’ll bring some important knowledge to the young playing group.”
Di Venuto said that Silva had wanted to get involved with coaching and this was a good step for him.
He said they had looked for specific criteria to fill the role, which Silva met.
“We’ve got connections all across Europe and in Asia,” he said.
“We’ve had terrific feedback about the work he did at his club in Sussex this year in the UK.”
Silva replaces Trent Johnston, who stepped down from the role after being appointed Hong Kong’s head coach.
Di Venuto said losing Johnston so late in the piece had made it difficult to find a new coach for this season.
“It was poor timing to lose Trent in July and we weren’t in a position to hold him to his contract, when he had a job like that.
“We’ve put in place a coach for next season onwards, but that person wasn’t able to change his work commitments to be involved this season.
“To be able to get Kaushal is really important for us to maintain what we are doing in the coaching space.”
Di Venuto said the signing of Silva was good for the entire competition.
“In the community there is a large Sri Lankan base. It’s terrific that they can come and see a Sri Lankan Test player play premier cricket.”
