Both English and Sri Lankan media outlets are reporting that Silverwood is in the final stages of negotiations to be named Sri Lanka head coach fewer than two months after he was sacked by England.

The Island’s Rex Clementine and the Daily Mail have both reported that Silverwood is close to a deal to take over at Sri Lanka, following the departure of Mickey Arthur to take over at Derbyshire, an English county side.

Silverwood was axed by England in the aftermath of a woeful Ashes campaign, in which England were one wicket away from a 5-0 whitewash. The series extended a run of adverse results extending back to the second Test of England’s tour of India, with England having lost 10 and won just one of their last 14 Tests under Silverwood.

England were also eliminated at the semi-final stage of the T20 World Cup in that time, failing in their bid to become the first men’s side to hold both world titles simultaneously.

Silverwood’s reign as England head coach began promisingly, with a 1-0 defeat in New Zealand followed by four successive series wins, including away triumphs in South Africa and Sri Lanka. The first Test in India was a rare triumph by a touring team in the country, with a double century from Joe Root underpinning only the second win there by any team in the last eight years.

Silverwood rose quickly through the ranks to become England head coach, having been named bowling coach in early 2018 and head coach in late 2019. He had formerly been bowling coach at Essex from 2010 to 2015 before taking over as head coach of the Chelmsford-based side, taking them to successive triumphs in Division Two and then Division One of the County Championship.

The Sri Lanka side Silverwood is set to take over has shown flickers of improvement after a difficult few years. They downed West Indies and Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup, beat West Indies 2-0 in a Test series which followed, and earned credit for a 3-1 defeat in a five-match T20I series in Australia.

However, five defeats in five games on their tour of India, comprising three T20Is and two Tests, shows there is plenty of work still to be done.