Sri Lanka rope in Jayasuriya as consultant

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has appointed former captain and batting great Sanath Jayasuriya as 'cricket consultant' on a year-long deal, marking the 54-year-old's return following a two-year ban under the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption code.

As part of his role Jayasuriya will ensure that the SLC's national programmes achieve an "optimum level of professionalism" and that all players and coaching staff are monitored in order to deliver excellence, SLC added.

"Jayasuriya will also establish national specialist skills programmes with key staff aligned to lead roles within each skill discipline among several other tasks," it said in a statement.

Former chairman of selectors Jayasuriya was banned from all cricket in 2019 after the global governing body said he had breached two counts of its anti-corruption code, including his refusal to cooperate with investigations.

Jayasuriya, who scored nearly 7,000 runs in Tests and more than 13,000 in ODIs, said at the time that while he admitted the charges for the good of the game there were "no allegations of corruption, betting or misuse of inside information".

His appointment, effective immediately, comes shortly after SLC named a new selection committee led by former opener Upul Tharanga and includes former player Ajantha Mendis.

Sri Lanka endured a disappointing ICC World Cup in India where they won only two of their nine games to finish ninth in the 10-team table.