MANCHESTER, June 16: Sri Lanka cricket team manager Chandra Schaffter denied reports Sunday that he’d been sacked from his post.

While admitting he would be standing down at the end of the current tour against England, 72-year-old Schaffter said it was his choice to quit.

“My contract was only for four or five months anyway. It was always agreed that at the end of this tour the Board and I would review the situation,” Schaffter told the BBC.

“The Board are going to have appoint someone at the end of the series. I wouldn’t have wanted to carry on anyway.”

Schaffter also denied that he’s had a row with Sri Lanka chairman of selectors Guy de Alwis.

“The chairman of selectors and I have been friends for over 20 years. We wouldn’t have a row (over selection) over something I have no control over.”

Schaffter is due to be replaced by his immediate predecessor Air Commodore Ajith Jayasekera, a former first-class cricketer, after the conclusion of the one-day triangular series here that also features India. —AFP