USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake resigns, Kiran More to take charge

USA head coach Pubudu Dassanayake has abruptly resigned after just under three years in the role following a breakdown in his relationship with the USA Cricket board.

Kiran More, the former India wicketkeeper, who was brought on as director cricket in June, alongside former West Indies batsman Kieran Powell as high performance manager, will be assisted in the interim by Pravin Amre, the former India-19 coach, former India spinner and recent Bangladesh spin coach Sunil Joshi, the Mumbai Indians fielding coach James Pamment and David Saker, the former Australia assistant coach.

Dassanayake had taken USA from World Cricket League Division Four in November 2016 to ODI status in April after USA secured a top-four finish at WCL Division Two in Namibia. However, ESPNcricinfo sources said that Dassanayake’s relationship with the board became strained after the licensing agreement was signed between Willow TV and Times of India Group to form American Cricket Enterprises (ACE).

At a USA national team camp held in Los Angeles in June, More and Powell were introduced and the pair of hires are being backed by ACE with board members split on Dassanayake’s role. Dassanayake was understood to have been informed that all selection decisions going forward would have to go through More whereas previously Dassanayake had a heavy say in selection matters along with USA Cricket selection chairman Ricardo Powell.

A USA T20 squad was supposed to be announced shortly after the selection camp ended in June, but the announcement has been delayed by disagreements over selection between More and Dassanayake according to sources. Dassanayake flew to England with USA Cricket administrator Wade Edwards to sit with ICC COO Iain Higgins this week in an attempt to mediate the selection issues. Higgins is due to be announced as USA Cricket chief executive at the conclusion of the World Cup.

But the issues could not be smoothed over. Dassanayake’s contract was due to expire in December but he was not expected to be offered an extension in spite of USA’s on-field success as his support within the board had waned in the last year.

More is now expected to have a major influence in USA national team affairs going forward. According to sources, meetings had already begun to find a replacement for Dassanayake with Joshi a prime candidate.

Source: ESPN Crickinfo