Australia will pursue Moody, says Ranatunga

Tom Moody, Sri Lanka's coach, has the qualifications to become Australia's next coach, says Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lanka captain. He fears Moody will return to Australia after the World Cup in 2007 and take over from John Buchanan.

Ranatunga said Moody had shown diplomacy and savvy when dealing with a complex Sri Lankan cricket board. "With all the controversial things happening in Sri Lanka, it's very, very important with the cricket board changing that you can deal with this as, all these things can affect the team," Ranatunga told Melbourne's Herald-Sun newspaper. "I thought he has handled everything very well. He has done a good job so far."

Moody also fits the criteria that Shane Warne wants in the next Australian coach. "I don't have a preference but I would like to see someone in the job who has international playing experience and understands actually what the guys are going through," Warne said during a team camp earlier this week.

Since becoming Sri Lanka's coach in 2005, Moody has had several sucessful campaigns that include reaching the finals of the VB Series in Australia last summer, a drawn Test series in England and the subsequent 5-0 one-day series whitewash.

Moody and Tim Nielsen, the coach of the Australian Centre of Excellence, are considered the leading candidates to replace Buchanan, who confirmed this week that he will quit after the World Cup.

Ranatunga said he expected Cricket Australia to pursue Moody. "Normally after the World Cup there are a few changes. I am sure he will get an offer from Australia. That's normal procedure - we train people, we get people in, then some other country will take them. I think he has been wonderful so far."