Farbrace conflicted about ECB interest

Cricket365
April 22, 2014

Sri Lanka coach Paul Farbrace has admitted that he's not sure what to do about England's interest in him as Peter Moores' assistant coach, and he feels torn between his new job with SLC and the offer made by the ECB.

When Moores was revealed as the new England coach last Thursday, it was speculated that Farbrace, only a few months into his deal with Sri Lanka, would be his assistant. But there was no comment from the man himself, until now.

Farbrace told <i>ESPNcricinfo</i>: "It's just about making sure that we would make the right decision. It's a hard one because it's between the country of your birth and where you live and everything else, and yet I've had a wonderful time in Sri Lanka, even since the last time I was here.

"I understand people's upset and disappointment, but sometimes opportunities come and you have to decide what's the right one to take."

Despite the off-field drama at SLC, with players locked in contract disputes and senior players clashing with board members, Farbrace said he was pleased with his time with the side, as they won the Asia Cup and the World Twenty20 in recent weeks.

He said: "I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Sri Lankan team. I did last time and I thoroughly enjoyed it this time. If I wasn't enjoying it, it would be a pretty easy decision to make.

"There's nothing untoward, sometimes an opportunity comes up and you have to give it 100% consideration. That's the same with any job. There's no story behind it or anything like that.

"It's just a case that since Thursday afternoon there's been some interest [from ECB], it's just a case of how far you take the interest."

SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga confirmed Farbrace has spoken to them about the ECB's offer, and conceded that SLC could not offer the same benefits as the wealthy England outfit.

He said: "If you look at it from a human point of view, I am sure they are paying him more than a board like us can pay him. He didn't demand for anything from us, but said that the ECB had offered an attractive package.

"We indicated to him that we would like him to stay in the position. He had just arrived. He came straight to SLC from the airport, so we wanted him to have a rest and come back to us."