Sports News And Tidbits

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Moody quits as Sri Lanka coach


Former Australia Test player Tom Moody has accepted a deal to coach Western Australia after rejecting an offer to remain in charge of Sri Lanka.

Moody coached Sri Lanka to the final of this year's World Cup but turned the offer of a renewed contract to return home to Australia.

"I am extremely proud of my involvement with WA cricket as a player and the success we enjoyed as a team throughout the 1980s and 1990s," Moody said in a statement released by the Western Australia Cricket Association on Monday.

"I am looking forward to working with former team mates such as Graeme Wood and Justin Langer, two men I was able to share the thrill of winning Sheffield Shield and domestic one-day titles with."

Interestingly, WACA also chose the occasion to announce its partnership with Indian industrialist Vikas Rambal and the Rambal family, who will be its first coach sponsor.

Moody brings with him Trevor Penney, who has been appointed assistant coach after two years in a similar role with Sri Lanka. WACA Chief Executive Officer Graeme Wood said securing the services of Moody and Penney was a major coup for cricket in WA.

"This is one of the most significant appointments that the Association has ever made. We have been able to secure an internationally-respected mentor with an impeccable record and in the prime of his coaching career to take the Retravision Warriors forward," Wood said.

"Tom is a legend of WA cricket and has led the state to domestic first-class and one-day titles. He brings a wealth of coaching experience after his success with Sri Lanka and Worcestershire, and will command instant respect from the Retravision Warriors squad," he said.

Wood also thanked the Rambal family and said, "It is also a measure of Tom's standing in the cricket community that the highly-regarded Rambal family would come on board with the WACA as the first coach sponsor we've had."

Vikas Rambal said his family was delighted to be involved in the landmark sponsorship with the WACA. "I believe every cricket lover in Western Australia will be delighted at the news that the Warriors will have the talents of such a sought after, international coach to steer them to success in the coming years," Rambal said.