Colombo, Apr 9 (IANS): Former England men's Head Coach, and player Chris Silverwood has been appointed as the Head Coach of Sri Lanka's national men's team, Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Saturday.

"I am very excited to be on board with Sri Lanka and I cannot wait to get over to Colombo and get started. They have a talented and passionate group of players and I am really looking forward to meeting up with the players and coaching staff very soon," said Silverwood, accepting the contract.

Silverwood was appointed as Head Coach of England men's team in October 2019, having previously been the England men's bowling coach working under then Head Coach Trevor Bayliss when England won the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.

Silverwood represented England in six Tests and seven ODIs and played county cricket for Yorkshire and Middlesex.

After his playing career, he took up coaching, taking over Mashonaland Eagles in Zimbabwe, winning the inaugural Logan Cup before a successful stint as the Head Coach of Essex County Cricket.

At Essex, Silverwood helped the club's promotion in his first year in charge and then led Essex to the County Championship title in 2017, after a lapse of 25 years.

The first competitive assignment with the Sri Lanka national team for Silverwood, who has been contracted for two years, would be the upcoming Test series away in Bangladesh, the SLC stated.

"We are delighted to appoint Chris as the new Head Coach of the national team. He is an extremely experienced coach and from our discussions with him in the recruitment process it is clear he has the required qualities we are looking for to take the team forward," said Ashley De Silva, CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket.

After Sri Lanka's former Head Coach Mickey Arthur ended his contract in last December, the position was vacant. Since January, the country's former fast bowler and bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake was acting as the interim head coach.