Sri Lanka hires South African Neil McKenzie as a consultant coach

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has appointed former South African batsman Neil McKenzie as a batting consultant for the national team, ahead of their upcoming Test series against South Africa. McKenzie will work with the Sri Lankan players for a brief period of one week to help them prepare for the two-match series, which is set to begin in less than two weeks.

As part of their preparation, Sri Lanka has already sent several players to South Africa. McKenzie, who is currently in his home country, will assist the Lankan team in adapting to the conditions and give them insights on how to approach the upcoming series against the Proteas.

McKenzie has an extensive background in coaching, having previously served as the High Performance Batting Coach for South Africa. He also worked as a batting coach for the Bangladesh national team and was part of the South African squad in a similar role before joining the Bangladesh setup. In 2018, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) appointed him as the batting advisor for the team in white-ball cricket.

A former international cricketer, the 42-year-old McKenzie made his debut for South Africa in 2000. Over the course of his career, he played 58 Tests, scoring 3,253 runs, and 64 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), amassing 1,688 runs. One of McKenzie's most notable achievements came in 2008 when he shared a world-record opening partnership of 415 runs with Graeme Smith against Bangladesh in Chittagong. This remains the highest-ever opening stand in Test cricket.

Ahead of the series, Sri Lanka has already sent several players to South Africa to join McKenzie in their preparations. Players such as Dhananjaya de Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Kumara, Prabath Jayasuriya, Kasun Rajitha, and Lasith Embuldeniya departed for South Africa last night to take part in a pre-series camp.

The two-match Test series will begin on November 27, with the second Test scheduled to start on December 5. This series is crucial for Sri Lanka as they prepare to take on a formidable South African side in their own conditions. McKenzie’s experience and expertise will be invaluable as the Sri Lankan team looks to perform at its best in this challenging series.