May 16, 2007

by Rex Clementine

Sri Lanka's cricketers told ‘The Island' that they were disappointed with the news that country's cricket coach Tom Moody was not seeking an extension to his contract that ends at the end of this month, but added that they respected his decision to move on. Moody revealed his decision to step down from the country's coaching role Monday morning and the players were naturally down. The cricketers wished their coach success and promised to give him a grand farewell in Abu Dhabi, where they will play three One Day Internationals against Paksitan. Moody helped Sri Lanka to reach the finals of the VB Series in 2005 and last year took a young team to England and squared the Test series 1-1 and was involved in a 5-0 whitewash in the ODI series, England's first ever in their home soil. The highlight for the former Australian all-rounder was reaching the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup two weeks back.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene, who has built up a solid relationship with Moody, said that he is one of the best coaches in the world at the moment.

"There's no doubt in my mind that he's one of the best coaches in the world right now," Jayawardene told ‘ The Island ' yesterday.

He felt that excessive travelling would have forced the 41-year-old to give up the job.

"He explained to us why he's taking the decision and we understand his concerns. With the amount of travelling we did, Tom had hardly anytime to spend with his family and any other person in his shoes would have done the same thing. It was an emotional moment when he told us that he was leaving, but the boys respect his decision," Jayawardene said.

Jayawardene and Marvan Atapattu were the captains during Moody's stint and success followed the team during the second phase of Moody's tenure, at which moment Jayawardene was the captain. His personal form improved too at that period and as a result Jayawardene started winning more games for Sri Lanka on a consistent basis.

"He challenged every individual. Every time we toured, he challenged us, not just me, but all 15 of us. With him, we couldn't remain in the same place. We had to raise our game whether it is physically, technically or as persons. The best things he gave the side as far as I am concerned is to improve our mental toughness. He insisted that we improve everyday," Jayawardene said giving insight to Moody's tenure as the coach of the team.

"We know how to go about things now. The boys value the good things he has brought into the side. Still, if we have any issues, we can speak to the guy as he's not that far away."

"He's got one more tournament left and it's up to us to give him a farewell that he deserves. He had put in a lot of effort and deserves the best," Jayawardene summed up.

Ace paceman Chaminda Vaas knows Moody better than any other Sri Lankan as he played for Worcestershire under Moody in the 2005 season and it was Vaas who recommended Moody to the Sri Lankan authorities.

Vaas, who is in London to play county cricket, spoke to ‘The Island' and said Sri Lanka will miss Moody badly.

"Tom is very organised and he's an excellent coach. I have known him for sometime now. I have a lot of respect for Tom as a coach and we will miss him," Vaas said.

"Off the field he's a very nice bloke. He handled our youngsters brilliantly and introduced a couple of match winners for us as well. One day he will go onto coach Australia and I wish him all the very best," Vaas added.

Young Farveez Maharoof , who has developed into a good all-rounder, admitted that under Moody he benefited a lot.

"Tom was a revelation. He overhauled the entire system we had in place. A lot of players benefited and he led from the front. He had good and bad times, but he worked towards one goal and I guess he's going away having achieved that and the end result shows that. Personally I benefited a lot," the 22-year-old said.

"He made everyone to fight for their places. His message was loud and clear and that was perform and perform consistently. His methods helped us to get away from our comfort zones," Maharoof said.

Lasith Malinga

Malinga was philosophical about Moody's departure. "A person signs up for a certain specific period when he comes down to coach a country and after Tom leaves, it's up to us to take the good things he has given us and improve further. It is disappointing, but we've got to come out of that," he said.

Malinga also said that the emphasis Moody gave on playing the Sri Lankan brand of cricket brought the best of the players.

"The best thing I saw in him was that he always insisted on playing the Sri Lankan brand of cricket. He reminded us not to imitate any other team and encouraged players to believe in their own talents. His role was massive in us developing as a team," Malinga added.

Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya , who has played for Sri Lanka under several coaches during the last 17 years said that Moody's departure is a big loss for the country. Jayasuriya also felt that Moody's coaching methods were unique.

"It's very sad to see him going as he has done a lot. He worked very hard with players. Personally he worked with me a lot to improve certain aspects of my game. He made sure that we got the best out of each practice session. We went in for each session with the intention of learning something new and that was refreshing as there was meaning for every session that we did. It's a big loss to the team and the country," the former captain said.

"He worked individually with the players. He brought in non cricketing people to improve our cricket. There was a psychologist who worked with us and that was a massive boost and there were various other things like that. He didn't stick to the mere technical aspects of the game and he tried to inspire us from outside sources too," Jayasuriya added.