Sri Lanka target Justin Langer as Mickey Arthur's successor

Former captain Aravinda de Silva revealed that Justin Langer is under consideration for the national team’s vacant head coach role

Former captain Aravinda de Silva, who advises Sri Lanka's decision-makers, has revealed Justin Langer is under consideration to succeed Mickey Arthur as men's head coach.

Rumesh Ratnayake has been in interim charge since Arthur's departure to join the English county side, Derbyshire.

The process to appoint a permanent replacement is well underway with Langer having emerged as a candidate after his resignation as Australia coach.

Paul Farbrace, the Warwickshire director of cricket, has turned down the role after being approached directly, The Cricketer understands.

De Silva is a member of the country’s cricket technical advisory committee, which provides guidance to the cricket board, and is involved in the recruitment.

"If (Langer is) available we would like to have a chat to him, to see his interest levels,” he said. 

“You need to understand the players’ mindset. 

“We don’t have any senior players such as the ones we’ve had in the past, Mahela (Jayawardene), Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara), Sanath (Jayasuriya), these kind of players.

^{Farbrace, a former England assistant, turned down Sri Lanka earlier in the year (ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images)}

“You need to basically have someone who understands and becomes a father figure and also to mitigate the language barrier.

“That’s been one of the major issues. We need to have someone who gets the right message across and understands our culture as well.”

Langer stepped down as Australia’s coach earlier this month despite winning the men's T20 World Cup and claiming a 4-0 Ashes series success against England in recent months, simultaneously turning down a derisory six-month extension.

Naveed Nawaz, who played one Test and three one-day internationals for Sri Lanka, is also among the contenders.

The 48-year-old was linked with being Farbace's assistant before he turned down the position. Nawaz coached Bangladesh to Under-19 World Cup glory in 2020 and has previously worked in the Sri Lankan pathway.

“We’ve had long hours of interviewing so many candidates," added De Silva.

“Naveed Nawaz, who was with the Bangladesh under-19 team and has been the under-19 coach previously here, we’ve identified him as one very good individual.”