Chris Silverwood has the chance to ruin England’s T20 World Cup hopes and could prove a point in the process.
Not because the former England coach is hungry for revenge or to make life painful for the players he was working with just eight months ago, but because he is the most professional of coaches. Silverwood is in Sydney at the same time as the England cricket team for the first time this year as head coach of Sri Lanka who are the opponents for the final group stage game at the SCG.
Back in January, the man known as ‘Spoons’ should have been here during the Ashes, but Covid kept him in Melbourne with his family while Graham Thorpe took over for the only draw of the series.
Weeks later after a 4-0 loss, both men were sacked along with managing director Ashley Giles who had heaped more and more responsibility on Silverwood’s shoulders at a time when the bio-bubble pressures were almost unbearable.
There is no great anger from Silverwood over the way things finished, he is still in touch with a few players, but the experience took its toll and he needed a few weeks to recover.
But once the call came from Tom Moody and Mahela Jayawardene to be interviewed for the Sri Lanka job he knew he wanted to get back on the horse and it has been well worth it, with a Test win over Australia and an Asia Cup win so far.
“Spoons just wants to do a professional job,” said Lankan legend Jayawardene. “He's been really good with this group of players. The boys have responded very well to him. Playing England is a bit of a story for you, but for us it is about competing and it was good for us to get him into the setup because we knew the pedigree he was coming from, he is a very good coach.
“He’s a coach with the right pedigree and obviously, he would have been disappointed as well with what happened and is someone with something to prove. Sri Lanka was looking for some fresh ideas and a different direction. We needed a guy who had that experience with England white ball cricket, of being in that setup. He is a calm guy and is having a good effect on the team.”
Unlike with England, Silverwood can leave selection to others and focus on getting the best out of the players he has to work with, and despite a whole raft of injuries at this World Cup, a surprise Lankan win is not beyond the question.
