Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced that they will part ways with Australia’s Tom Moody who was their director of cricket just weeks before the T20 World Cup 2022. Sri Lanka recently won the Asia Cup 2022 in UAE, defeating Pakistan in the final in Dubai under guidance from Moody.

However, Sri Lanka will need to play the qualifiers to make it into the main draw, the Super 12s of the ICC event which will be played in Australia from October 16 onwards. Now they will be without the services of Tom Moody, who has been let go by the SLC.

Former Sri Lanka head coach Moody was appointed director of cricket in February last year to help prepare the team for the T20 World Cup and the 50-over version in India in 2023.

The 56-year-old's three-year contract is being terminated by "mutual agreement", Mohan de Silva, secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), told AFP.

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A source revealed that SLC "could not afford his fees in the long run", despite having savings of over $40 million. The source said that the former Test player was paid $1,850 a day plus expenses for the 100 days a year he was expected to spend in the country, which is suffering its worst economic downturn.

"We also feel we need a person who is more hands-on, who can spend more time in Sri Lanka," the source added.

There was no immediate comment from the Australian, who last month said that he was taking a similar director of cricket post at Desert Vipers in the newly formed UAE-based International League T20.

Sri Lanka has faced acute shortages of food, fuel, and medicines since late last year, but Sri Lanka Cricket remains flush with cash, according to board officials. Last week it donated half a million dollars to a cancer hospital that was desperately in need of life-saving medicines and medical equipment.

(AFP inputs)