Samaraweera resigns as Victoria women's coach over staffing dispute

Dulip Samaraweera, head coach of the Victoria women's team, has resigned just two weeks into his role. The decision came after his request to appoint a specific coach to his staff was denied due to the state's policies.

Samaraweera, who played seven Tests and five ODIs for Sri Lanka between 1993 and 1994, had been appointed on a two-year contract earlier in May after serving as interim head coach since Jarrad Loughman left the position last November.

"During the recruitment process Dulip had expressed a desire to make a specific coaching appointment in his support team," Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins said.

"That appointment was unable to be facilitated due to internal policies we have in place. Following further conversations, Dulip decided he would prefer not to remain in the role,' he further added.

Samaraweera will be succeeded by Andrew Christie, who is currently the Melbourne Renegades' WBBL assistant coach. Christie, who had been part of the initial interviews for the job, joined Cricket Victoria in 2021 and has been leading the female emerging player program.