Colombo, Sep 20 (IANS): Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Tuesday mutually agreed with former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody, who was functioning as the director of cricket, to exit from his contract with immediate effect.

The SLC Executive Committee was of the opinion that Moody's services were no longer required as he was directly reporting to the Technical Advisory Committee, which had ceased to exist now.

"Moody's appointment as the director of cricket, effective March 1, 2021, was made based on a recommendation by the Technical Advisory Committee of the SLC. Sri Lanka Cricket, while thanking Tom for his contribution to the game of cricket in Sri Lanka during his tenure, wishes him the very best for his future endeavours," said SLC in a statement.

"It was a privilege to service SLC again and I'm proud of what I managed to achieve during my term with the guidance of the Technical Advisory Committee," said Moody.

Earlier, there were rumours SLC was planning to part ways with Moody, ending a three-year deal in just one-and-a-half years.

While SLC has decided to bring a premature end to Moody's contract, it will retain Mahela Jayawardena, consultant coach, despite the former Sri Lanka skipper accepting a broader responsibility with Mumbai Indians.

The reason behind the SLC decision is that it wants to give a wider role to Jayawardena.

Moody was reportedly hired for a three-year stint by a Technical Advisory Committee led by Aravinda de Silva in March last year and was given a wide role, spanning the women's and men's games, and domestic and international cricket.

Moody had been Sri Lanka's coach between 2005 and 2007, the years in which Sri Lanka tasted considerable success in the Test format, and became World Cup runners-up. However, his latest stint with SLC attracted more brickbats than praise, with many questioning the need to hire an Australian to restructure the country's domestic cricket when it had enough and more qualified cricketers within the country to do so.