Jamie Siddons has been appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lanka women’s national cricket team, according to an official announcement from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
The veteran Australian coach will assume his one-year responsibility from March 16, 2026, and will bring decades of international coaching experience to the Sri Lankan women’s national cricket team. This marks a new era for the women’s team, who will be competing in international tournaments in the coming months.
Jamie Siddons Replaces Rumesh Ratnayake
This responsibility is taken over by Siddons from the previous head coach of the Sri Lankan team, Rumesh Ratnayake, who ended his tenure at the end of 2025.
The previous head coach of the Sri Lankan team was Rumesh Ratnayake, and he was appointed in February 2023. He was instrumental in the improvement of the performance of the Sri Lankan team in international cricket. The Sri Lankan women’s cricket team was transformed from an average-performing team to a competitive team.
Historic Success Under Ratnayake
The biggest achievement of the Sri Lankan women’s cricket team under the guidance of Rumesh Ratnayake was in the year 2024 when Sri Lanka lifted the Women’s Asia Cup trophy for the first time in its history.
In the tournament final, Sri Lanka emerged victorious against the tough Indian women’s national cricket team, a historic moment for the team.
Even though this has happened, they have not been able to put together any good results at any of the major international tournaments. They finished poorly at the latest ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, not being able to get any wins in the tournament, and finishing in last place in the group elimination stage of the tournament.
Recent Performances Before Siddons’ Appointment
However, Sri Lanka women have shown promising results over the past few games. The team has won series in ODI and T20I formats against the West Indies women’s national cricket team earlier this month.
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These results indicate the potential of the young Sri Lanka cricket team and a good start for Jamie Siddons as he takes over as captain of the team.
Immediate Focus: Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
One of the main tasks that Jamie Siddons will look to address is preparing the side for the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in England in June 2026.
Before the global tournament, Sri Lanka is scheduled to tour Bangladesh in April and May, and this will be Siddons’ first assignment in his capacity as head coach.
Jamie Siddons’ Coaching Experience
Jamie Siddons has over two decades of coaching experience at the professional level in cricket. His most notable assignment was when he was appointed head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team from 2007 to 2011. While he was in charge, Bangladesh recorded their first overseas Test series win against the West Indies cricket team.
Siddons has been involved in some notable domestic coaching roles in his career:
Head coach of South Australia Redbacks (2015-2020)
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Head coach of Wellington Firebirds (2011-2015)
Jamie Siddons’ Playing Career
Prior to his successful and illustrious coaching career, Jamie Siddons has had a successful playing career, having played cricket domestically in Australia.
He has been referred to as a prolific run-scoring batsman and has captained both the South Australia cricket team and the Victoria cricket team. Jamie Siddons has ended his successful playing career having scored over 10,000 runs in the Sheffield Shield cricket tournament.
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