Former South Africa international Kirsten announced as new Sri Lanka coach

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sri-lanka/zahH5UHg/"]Sri Lanka[/a] Cricket said Kirsten would begin a two-year contract on April 15th, even though [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jayasuriya-sanath/v9Fw5W73/"]Jayasuriya[/a]'s contract was not set to expire until the end of June.[/p][p]Kirsten previously served as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/india/fcOzl2uI/"]India[/a] coach from 2008 to 2011, and as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/tUhlKzIm/"]South Africa[/a] coach from 2011 to 2013.[/p][embed guid="476388b9-1d2f-4129-925d-005d80858f58" url="https://x.com/thecricketgully/status/2031015563661836374" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]His appointment was part of Sri Lanka's "efforts to revamp the structure of the National High Performance Centre" responsible for training elite players, the board said in a statement.[/b][/p][p]Jayasuriya told [i][b]AFP[/b][/i] that he would be the centre's director.[/p][p][b]"I will be overall in charge of training and will continue to work with the team," he said.[/b][/p][p]Jayasuriya was appointed coach in July 2024. He is one of Sri Lanka's greatest cricketers, playing 586 internationals, scoring 42 centuries and taking 440 wickets between 1989 and 2011.[/p][p]Sri Lanka co-hosted the T20 World Cup with eventual winners India but crashed out at the Super Eights stage, their fate sealed by a 61-run defeat to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/G6PWlrQB/"]New Zealand[/a].[/p]