Tom Moody has been lined up on what is understood to be a three-year contract to become Sri Lanka Cricket's (SLC) director of cricket, a newly-created role that will oversee almost every facet of the game in the country.
The appointment will seek to utilise Moody's experience working within cricketing structures in Australia, England and India to keep SLC up-to-date with the latest technological advancements and best practices in the sport.
Aravinda de Silva heads up a sports ministry-appointed technical advisory committee overseeing the development of cricket in Sri Lanka - informally known as the cricket committee. Alongside him in the committee are former cricketers Roshan Mahanama, Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara. Among their first moves has been the recommendation of Moody.
Moody enjoyed a successful spell as head coach of the Sri Lankan national team from 2005-2007, most notably helping the side to the 2007 World Cup final, and de Silva believes this experience will provide him with the right tools for the job at hand.
"He's got a lot of experience and understands more things about what some of the other countries are doing right, and we need to get the best things out of those countries that will suit our culture and then implement those," de Silva told ESPNcricinfo.
Moody, who is director of cricket at Sunrisers Hyderabad, will take up the position as soon as it is ratified by the SLC Executive Committee. Moody's contract will allow him to split time between both roles, while SLC is expected to come out with a final decision on the appointment sometime over the next week.
Moody will have the mandate to address any areas that he feels is in need of attention, in consultation with the cricket committee, national team coach Mickey Arthur, head of coaching at SLC Jerome Jayaratne, and any other appointments that are made going forward.
"A lot of areas [will be covered]. On the medical side, reporting on fitness, who will be monitoring those things and driving it all the way down to grassroots. We have to put all those structures in place, that's why it's for three years. These things cannot be done overnight, it's a long-term plan which we need to implement," de Silva said.
While optimism surrounding a genuine reworking of Sri Lanka's cricketing structure is being tempered by previous false dawns, the potential appointment of a director of cricket alongside a recent legal petition seeking to overhaul Sri Lanka Cricket's much-maligned constitution - long cited as the cause of Sri Lanka's ailing domestic structure - shows that hope among Sri Lanka's cricketing fraternity is nevertheless growing.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
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