England appoints Jacques Kallis as batting consultant ahead of Sri Lanka series

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday announced the appointment of former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis as the batting consultant for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

While Carl Hopkinson has been named as fielding coach, former New Zealand spinner Jeetan Patel has been named as spin bowling consultant.

England Cricket’s official Twitter handle released the list of appointments on Monday. Coaches for England’s Test tour of Sri Lanka are :

Head Coach: Chris Silverwood
Assistant Coach: Paul Collingwood
Wicketkeeper Consultant: James Foster
Fielding Coach: Carl Hopkinson

Batting Consultant: Jacques Kallis
Bowling Coach: Jon Lewis
Spin Bowling Consultant: Jeetan Patel

Earlier, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer were rested for England’s tour of Sri Lanka as ECB named a 16-man squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka. England and Sri Lanka will play two Tests with the first one starting on January 14.

The England series against Sri Lanka was postponed in March this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the rearranged tour will now be held behind closed doors in Galle. Rory Burns too will miss the red-ball tour as his wife is expecting their first child during the second week of January.