Sri Lanka have appointed Jerome Jayaratne as interim head coach for the forthcoming home series against the West Indies.

The 49-year-old had been working as Sri Lanka Cricket's head of coaching, a position he has held since 2008.

The Lions have been without a head coach since Marvan Atapattu resigned last week following the team's successive home Test series defeats to Pakistan and India.

"Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that SLC head of coaching Jerome Jayaratne, has been appointed as the interim head coach of the Sri Lankan National Team with immediate effect for the upcoming West Indies series in October, November 2015," Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.

The series against West Indies begins in Galle on October 14.