Former India player parts ways with Cricket Australia after six years as the men’s spin coach

Alex Malcolm29-Jul-2022

Sridharan Sriram has had a big influence on the careers of Australia’s premier spinners•Getty Images

Sridharan Sriram will end his six-year tenure as an assistant coach with Australia’s men’s national team in order to focus on his coaching role with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.”After being on the road for six years it’s with a heavy heart I have decided to move on from my current role as an assistant coach of the Australian men’s team,” Sriram said in a statement. “I feel this is an opportune moment keeping in mind the team, giving them enough time to prepare for two World Cups and the World Test Championship. It has been a great experience for me working across formats, World Cups and Ashes and I have come out incredibly richer in knowledge.”Sriram, the former India allrounder, has been an important figure in Australia’s coaching set-up since being appointed as a spin coach under Darren Lehmann in 2016. He has had a big influence on the careers of Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, in particular, and has worked closely with Nathan Lyon. He has also been a key figure in Glenn Maxwell’s development as a T20 spinner with both Australia and Royal Challengers.He had been fulfilling his duties with Australia while still being based in Chennai. But a change in coaching personnel with the Australia team has seen former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori join new coach Andrew McDonald as the full-time bowling coach. Vettori filled in as Australia’s bowling coach on the limited-overs portion of the tour to Pakistan when Sriram was unable to tour.”I am extremely grateful to Cricket Australia for all their support in the years that I have been involved with them,” he said. “I would like to thank my head coaches Darren Lehmann, Justin Langer and Andrew McDonald and my captains Steve Smith, Tim Paine, Aaron Finch and Pat Cummins who all believed in me.”Thanks also to Ben Oliver, Brian McFadyen, all the players and staff for welcoming me with open arms and making me feel a part of the group. Greg Chappell, Troy Cooley, Pat Howard and Marcus Stoinis were also instrumental in getting me involved. I wish the team and the coaches the very best for the future.”Zampa, who thrived under Sriram on his way to becoming arguably the best bowler in the T20 World Cup last year, was grateful for his influence. “I love working with Sri, he’s someone I have a lot of respect for and his work ethic and knowledge of the game have been invaluable to my career in recent years,” Zampa said.