The list of cricketing countries apparently keen on taking Worcestershire's Tom Moody as their new coach has become even longer following confirmation of an approach from Sri Lanka.

The fact that Moody's contract at New Road is due to expire at the end of the current season appears to have alerted every Test-playing nation to his potential availability.

But Sri Lanka have had to take their place in a queue for the 39-year-old South Australian's services that already contained the likes of Pakistan, India, South Africa and the West Indies.

Moody is becoming so used to straight-batting speculation about his future that he even joked last night of his surprise that there has not been interest in him beyond the cricket world.

"I seem to get linked to every single job," he quipped. "I'm waiting for the next soccer job to come up!

"But the truth of this one is that I had a member of the Sri Lankan cricketing organisation contact me last week and there hasn't been anything beyond that

"I've only spoken to them on one occasion and there hasn't been any firm offer, yet somehow it's got into the press.

"It's as flattering as it's frustrating but, as much as we all want to aspire to the next level of whatever we're doing, I'm concentrating hard on the job here and there's nothing I can do until the rumours turn into real material."

Despite the latest round of speculation involving Moody, the club will not speed up their scheduled plan to talk to him next month about a contract extension at New Road.

"We're realistic," said chief executive Mark Newton. "We've made it clear that we regard things like this as an honour for the club and that

we're never going to hold anybody back and stand in their way.

"We'd far rather he comes to us and is honest, which he has done in the past with all the other jobs he has been linked with.

"But nobody has phoned me officially and Tom has only been contacted by them unofficially, so this is all extremely premature."

If Moody has indeed become cricket's hottest property, then he was certainly in the right place in sun-kissed Edinburgh yesterday. But, as it turned out, he was there at completely the wrong time, after Worcestershire's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy first-round clash with Scotland was washed out at The Grange.

It was a day of frustration for all concerned. The weather in Edinburgh could not have been better, with as hot an afternoon as it is possible to imagine at this time of year in the Athens of the North. That made it all the more disappointing that any hope of play should have been abandoned for the day as early as 3pm.

Heavy overnight rain, combined with less-than-professional preparations by the groundstaff at The Grange, had led to water seeping under the covers and, having been forced to fall back on to today's reserve day, both sides are counting on a dry night to avoid the unappealing prospect of a bowl-out.

"It was the best day of the summer so far but conditions were nowhere near up to standard," said Moody.

"There is a huge wet patch on a length where the covers have leaked and a lot of rainwater has got through, not just on the wicket itself but the surrounding areas. Round the bowlers' run-ups and in the gully areas at either end of the square, water is coming up over your boots when you walk on it.

"The groundsmen have worked hard but they were always fighting against time after what had gone on before.

"I'm still confident we'll get some sort of cricket in tomorrow and that we don't have to resort to the ridiculous scenario of bowling at a stump.

"As much as they'd like to win, Scotland would like to do it on cricketing grounds rather than the lottery of a 'bowl-out'."