Sri Lanka Cricket have appointed 'A' team coach Gunawardene as the national team's batting coach until the return of Jon Lewis © AFP

Sri Lanka Cricket have appointed 'A' team coach Avishka Gunawardene as the national team's batting coach until the return of Jon Lewis, who is on leave to attend a family matter. Gunawardene will leave for Australia tonight and be with the team until the end of second Test match in Canberra.

Gunawardene, a former opening batsmen for Sri Lanka who's played 6 Tests and 61 ODIs, was appointed the batting coach of the 'A' team way back in May 2016. In the meanwhile, he has also served as the national team's batting coach in 2017.

A new batting coach is one of the many problems Sri Lanka are facing in Australia. Apart from the very obvious loss in the first Test, they have been marred by injuries to their fast bowlers and even had coach Chandika Hathurusingha contentiously relieved from his duties as a selector-on-tour.

The second Test between Australia and Sri Lanka is at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on February 1.