With support from its new partner American Cricket Enterprises (ACE), USA Cricket is excited to announce the addition of a group of coaching advisors to assist with the senior men’s team over the next few months following the recent departure of head coach Pubudu Dassanayake. Coach Dassanayake has decided to step aside to allow the new coaching advisors to flourish. After achieving One Day International (ODI) status for the first ever, the men’s team is looking to continue its winning track record with a firm focus on successful tournament finishes this August and October which will qualify the team for the 2020 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
It is hoped that this group of experienced advisors will provide an enhanced and optimal coaching environment in which the elite players will have the best possible opportunity to further develop their skills and succeed as a team. Central to this restructuring is the appointment of Kiran More (a former wicket-keeper, vice-captain and selector for the Indian National Team; and more recently wicket-keeping coach and cricket consultant to the Mumbai Indians) in a senior cricket operations consultancy role.
In addition to More, the following advisors will be brought on immediately on a short-term basis:
- Pravin Amre (batting): Mr. Amre played for the Indian National Team from 1991-1999. He was the head coach for the World Cup-winning India U19 team, India A team, as well as Mumbai Cricket Team. He has also served in various coaching capacities with IPL teams such as the Pune Warriors, Mumbai Indians, and most recently the Delhi Capitals, where he continues to be their chief talent scout.
- Sunil Joshi (spin bowling): Mr. Joshi represented the Indian National Team from 1996-2001 as a spin bowling all-rounder, and has served in various coaching capacities for Oman, Assam, and Hyderabad. He was also the spin bowling coach for the Bangladesh National Team in the 2019 World Cup.
- James Pamment (fielding): Mr. Pamment is the fielding coach for the Mumbai Indians of the IPL. He has also been associated with New Zealand Cricket as a fielding specialist and coached the Northern Districts team in the Champions League T20. Prior to his tenure as a coach, James was a first class cricketer for the Auckland Cricket Team.
- Kieran Powell (batting): Mr. Powell is a West Indian cricketer who played for the U19 national team in 2008. He represented the West Indies in test and ODI matches from 2011-2018. Mr. Powell was known for being a left handed power hitter.
- David Saker (fast bowling): Mr. Saker was most recently the fast bowling coach for the Australian National Team. Prior to his time coaching for Australia, he was also the fast bowling coach for the England Cricket Team that won the 2010-2011 Ashes Series, and coached the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash.
Dassanayake has been the head coach of the USA senior men’s team since 2016 and has led the team to new heights on the field of play while also instituting a strong culture and team ethic, built upon the diversity of the playing squad. Under Mr. Dassanayake, the team advanced from World Cricket League Division Four to achieve ODI status for the first time ever.
Paraag Marathe, Chairman of USA Cricket, said, “I want to thank Pubudu for the work that he’s done over the past few years to help the team reach ODI status. He is an extremely accomplished coach and a person of great integrity and strong values and his contribution to USA Cricket is valued by us all. He leaves USA Cricket at this time with our best wishes for the future.”
Mr. Marathe continued, “We’re very fortunate that so many accomplished coaches want to work with USA Cricket. The coaching advisors we have assembled stand among the very best in the world and we believe that these individuals and the new structure, can help to take the USA National Team to the next level and provide the best chance possible of succeeding in the upcoming qualification tournaments.”
“Pubudu deserves huge credit for both the drastic improvement in team performance and the creation of a new playing squad culture and work ethic,” said USA Cricket Project Manager Eric Parthen. “I can’t thank him enough for everything he has given USA Cricket over the past few years and we all look forward to watching the team building further on the strong platform that he put together.”
