COLOMBO, July 18: Sri Lanka has picked Paul Farbrace, a coaching director at English County Kent, as its new assistant coach, a top Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official said on Wednesday.

“We have picked Paul as the assistant coach and his appointment will be ratified this Friday,” Kangadaran Mathivanan, the SLC Secretary said.

Farbrace, 40, has also served as the coach of the England women’s team and the under-19 men’s team.

The Englishman was the choice of Sri Lanka’s new Australian coach Trevor Bayliss, Mathivanan said, adding the SLC was satisfied with Farbrace’s track record as a coach.

The new coaching duo of Bayliss and Farbrace will commence work with captain Mahela Jayawardene’s team for the Twenty20 World Championship in September.

Previous coach Tom Moody opted to step down in May. The side were coached by Trevor Penney for an interim period, including the recent home series with Bangladesh.—AFP