Paul Farbrace turns down Sri Lanka head coach role to stay with Warwickshire

Farbrace, who is director of cricket at Edgbaston, was offered a return to the position he left in 2014

Paul Farbrace has turned down the Sri Lanka men's head coach role to remain with Warwickshire.

Farbrace, the director of cricket at Edgbaston, was offered a deal which would have seen him return to the position he left in 2014.

The 54-year-old was only appointed by Warwickshire in 2019, following the departure of Ashley Giles to the ECB, but has already enjoyed success in the West Midlands.

Last year, the county won the County Championship title for the first time in nine years, and followed that by claiming the Bob Willis Trophy with victory over Lancashire at Lord's.

^{Paul Farbrace pictured during his first stint with Sri Lanka (Punit Paparanje/AFP via Getty Images)}

That success formed a major part of Farbrace choosing to stay in English cricket, and he informed Warwickshire of his decision on Thursday.

While he is believed to favour a return to hands-on coaching at some point, he is now set to focus on helping the Bears defend their title in 2022. 

Farbrace left Sri Lanka Cricket eight years ago - just three months into a two-year contract as head coach - to become assistant to Peter Moores with the England national team, before holding the same role under Trevor Bayliss. 

SLC are in need of a new head coach following the departure of Mickey Arthur, the South African who agreed a move to Derbyshire at the end of last year.

Local reports in Sri Lanka suggested Farbrace had not initially applied for the position but was approached after the committee tasked with recruiting the new head coach decided that the quality of the 30 or so applicants was not of sufficient quality.

Warwickshire declined to comment.