da esoccer bet： Sri Lanka’s bowling coach Darryl Foster said he was left feeling dismayedand disappointed after his treatment by the Board of Control for Cricket inSri Lanka (BCCSL) on Monday
CricInfo17-Jun-2002Sri Lanka’s bowling coach Darryl Foster said he was left feeling dismayedand disappointed after his treatment by the Board of Control for Cricket inSri Lanka (BCCSL) on Monday.Foster, a biomechanical expert from the University of Western Australia,resigned on Saturday after the BCCSL refused a request to help offsetemergency travel costs.Foster also voiced his disappointment that the news of his resignation wasleaked to the media during the course of a crucial Test match, distractingthe attention of the players.Foster had to return to Australia just before the Lord’s Test following alife threatening illness to his grandson. The serious nature of the illnessforced Foster to buy an extra airline ticket, circumventing a time consumingstopover in Colombo.Contrary to a BCCSL media release, which states that Foster "requested theBCCSL to meet the cost of upgrading him to Business Class," Foster claimsthat: "I was not expecting them to pay for the upgrade. I asked them tooffset the cost of my upgrade against my unused business class, or consideroffsetting it against any future coaching trips to Sri Lanka."Their decision not to assist him – despite a history of honourary assistanceto the BCCSL, including two biomechanical analyses of Muttiah Muralitharan’saction in 1995 and 1999 that helped save the off-spinners career – forcedhim to resign: "They said no, so I could only believe that I was not goingto be required for any further bowling work. Therefore I didn’t believe thatI had any other alternative than to sever my links with the board andresign.""I was profoundly disappointed. To have it announced in Colombo during thecourse of a Test match was distracting – the players and management teamhave more important things to worry about than leaks from the board inColombo. And making it look that I was resigning because of a financialdisagreement was misleading."Foster first starting working for the BCCSL in 1995 when he helped clearMuralitharan’s action with the International Cricket Council (ICC). Sincethen he has been involved in the BCCSL’s Fast Bowling Unit. Most recently,he helped Dilhara Fernando remodel his action after sustaining a stressfracture in his back. During this tour he had to take unpaid holiday leaveto heed the BCCSL’s request for assistance.Although currently upset, as are members of the team, he stopped short ofruling out any further association with Sri Lankan cricket: "I would hopethere could some rapprochement with the board. If I have got the wrongmessage from the board, then I will certainly talk to them about futurecoaching assistance.".