Dassanayake ousted as Canada coach on eve of World Cup

Dassanayake was sacked as Canada's coach on the eve of the World Cup tournament

Just days before Canada's T20 World Cup campaign started, head coach Pubudu Dissanayake was sacked from his head coaching position for the past two years. Dissanayake, a former player for Sri Lanka and Canada, returned to coach Canada in July 2022, having previously coached Nepal (twice) and the United States.

Since resuming the role, Dissanayake has successfully guided Canada to the Americas T20 regional finals to qualify for the upcoming T20 World Cup and also see them regain ODI status for the 2023 World Cup qualifiers. Canada was also promoted from the CWC Challenge League to CWC League 2, where they are currently unbeaten at the top of the table.

However, there have been rumours of unrest in Canada's camp for some time, accompanied by some surprising selection decisions after Cricket Canada's fragile board election last month saw the appointment of a new three-member selection panel, excluding the head coach. The subsequent omission of Nikhil Dutta particularly raised eyebrows, as did the decision to drop Jeremy Gordon.

Newly-elected Cricket Canada vice-president Gurdeep Clair verbally informed Dasanajeka on Wednesday morning, May 22, that his services would no longer be required following the conclusion of the warm-up matches in St. Kits who will take to the field today to play their last match.

Thewews understands there has been a letter circulating among the players expressing their displeasure with Dassanayeke, and while several members of the group declined to be named, Cricket Canada apparently felt that was reason enough for the dismissal. Although a council meeting is expected tonight where the issue is likely to be raised, there is little hope of a turnaround.

Dassanayake's replacement is yet to be named.

Canada will play their T20 World Cup opener against hosts USA on June 1 in Dallas.