IF SRI LANKA seal the NatWest Series at the Riverside today, it will complete a big turnaround in the tour. The revival must represent a triumph for Tom Moody and it cannot have gone unnoticed within the ECB.

Moody, the Sri Lanka coach, has long been regarded as a potential successor to Duncan Fletcher and his credentials have grown by the game.

Cricket works in four-year cycles around the World Cup, so the end of the tournament in the Caribbean next April is likely to herald significant changes. Coaches scheduled to move out of contract include Bob Woolmer (Pakistan), Mickey Arthur (South Africa), Greg Chappell (India), John Bracewell (New Zealand) and Moody.

Fletcher is different because he has a rolling one-year deal. In theory, he should have given notice if he intends to step down. But in practice there is no urgency for a decision. The board will be keen to allow a smooth departure — whenever that may be — in the light of Fletcher’s good work.

By the time of the World Cup, he will be in his eighth year in the post, a long tenure in coaching terms. He will also be 58, the same age as Woolmer, who is considering retirement after the competition.

Moody, 40, a World Cup winner with Australia, belongs to the next generation. He was unafraid of ruffling the feathers of senior players during his time as the Worcestershire coach and had a clause in his contract permitting him to leave New Road for a national team.

He applied unsuccessfully last year to replace Rodney Marsh as England’s Academy director. The job, instead, went to Peter Moores, who automatically became the favourite to succeed Fletcher. But the Sri Lanka tour has provided Moody with a platform to press his case and he must be recovering ground.

The fightback in the first Test at Lord’s revealed spirit and backbone where lesser teams would have collapsed inside three days. He brought about a similar response at Trent Bridge after the defeat at Edgbaston and from there Sri Lanka have outplayed England in the one-day games at Lord’s and the Brit Oval.

Victory in the last three matches would be more creditable in the absence of Muttiah Muralitharan, who has flown to Madras, where his five-month-old son is recovering after a stomach operation. Malinga Bandara, his replacement, bowled well in Australia this year but has an impossible act to follow.

However, if the gauge of a coach is the progress of younger players, then Upul Tharanga and Chamara Kapugedara provide favourable testimony for Moody. Improved fielding, meanwhile, can be attributed to Trevor Penney, the assistant coach, who has slipped through the England net after working with Fletcher last summer.

Moody said in February last year: “You strive for the top and the England job, like any other international coaching job, is the top. It would be a great challenge to have.”

Since then, he has found an international job. But he has an English wife and family, and a house near Worcester. With England, Moody would be free from the interference that thrust Sanath Jayasuriya back into the Test squad and had Ashantha de Mel, the chairman of selectors, questioning his ability at the start of the tour.

There is one more factor. Moody must know that John Buchanan, of Australia, is yet another coach out of contract after the World Cup and Buchanan seems certain to leave. Even if Fletcher decides to step down, the lure of his true home may tug at Moody tighter than Lord’s and the Malverns.

HOW THEY LINE UP

ENGLAND (from): A J Strauss (captain), M E Trescothick, I R Bell, A N Cook, K P Pietersen, P D Collingwood, J W M Dalrymple, E C Joyce, G O Jones, T T Bresnan, K Ali, L E Plunkett, S I Mahmood, S J Harmison, A G R Loudon.

SRI LANKA (from): S T Jayasuriya, W U Tharanga, M Jayawardena (captain), K C Sangakkara, S T M Dilshan, R P Arnold, M J Maharoof, J Mubarak, H A P W Jayawardena, W P U C J Vaas, S L Malinga, C K Kapugedara, C R D Fernando, P D R L Perera, C M Bandara.

Umpires: B R Doctrove (West Indies) and M R Benson. Third umpire: N J Llong. Match referee: C H Lloyd (West Indies).

TUNING IN: Sky Sports 1: Live coverage from 10.30am; highlights, 10pm-12am. Five: Highlights, 7.15pm-8pm.

WEATHER: Light rain at times, with a light southerly wind, 23c (73f).