COLOMBO, May 20: Sri Lanka will not rush into appointing a new coach but will bide their time before naming Tom Moody's successor, according to Jayantha Dharmadasa, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chief.

Moody's term ends after the ongoing one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

Dharmadasa indicated that SLC was keen for Rumesh Ratnayake, the former Sri Lankan fast bowler, to be the interim coach for the series against Bangladesh in June. Initially, they had thought of Trevor Penney, Moody's assistant, for the role but Penney is also leaving at the end of his contract to join Moody in Western Australia.

Dharmadasa said that he had already spoken to Ratnayake and was in the process of trying to contact him to finalise matters. Ratnayake is at present a development officer of the Asian Cricket Council of which Dharmadasa is the president.

Moody was also helping SLC in finding a suitable coach to take the team to the next World Cup in 2011.

“He has come up with a few names and we are also conducting our own research to have an appropriate candidate who can continue the good work Moody has done with the national team so far,” said Dharmadasa.

He said that John Wright, the former New Zealand batsman and India coach, wasn't interested in coaching any national sides. Wright was one of the candidates for the job. This leaves SLC with six other candidates to consider. At the top of their list are Jamie Siddons, Dave Houghton, Greg Shipperd, Terry Oliver, Trevor Bayliss and Graham Ford.—Agencies