BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CRICKET WEST INDIES has confirmed Phil Simmons’ return to the helm of the regional side following a selection process.
Simmons was confirmed on Thursday (Oct. 10) as the new Head Coach, some three years after he was forced out of the position.
He was selected to lead the regional Senior Men’s Team for a period of four years during a meeting of the CWI Board of Directors today (Oct. 14), following the conclusion of an intensive recruitment process.
Simmons served previously for a short period as Head Coach of the West Indies Senior Men’s team, during which he coached the team to the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup title, following which he was controversially dismissed.
The Ricky Skerritt-led administration instituted a policy whereby “persons without West Indian heritage need not apply” for the position.
Following his controversial dismissal, Simmons served as Head Coach of Afghanistan. A team that he helped qualify, for the first time, for the 2019 ICC ODI CWC.
His tenure as Head Coach of Ireland saw them improve their ICC rankings and qualify for all major ICC events.
Simmons’ latest coaching success came just two days ago when he coached the Barbados Tridents to the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League title with an impressive victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors in Saturday’s Final.
CWI President Ricky Skerritt said, “Bringing Phil Simmons back is not just righting a past wrong, but I am confident that CWI has chosen the right man for the job at the right time. I want to also thank the very talented Floyd Reifer for the hard work he put in while he was the interim coach.”
CWI Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams said, “I am happy after a very robust recruitment process at the appointment of Phil to the role of Head Coach. I have no doubt that Phil brings the requisite leadership skills and experience needed to drive improvement across our international squads and I look forward to supporting him in the role.”
Meanwhile, following a recruitment process that ran parallel to the selection of the new Head Coach, CWI also announces the appointment of three new Men’s, Women’s and Girls’ Panel, as well as a Boys’ Selection Panel.
The recommendation of a new CWI selection structure and policy was the main outputs of the report of the Selection System Review Task Force presented by Vice President Shallow at the September Board meeting in Tobago.
Eighteen candidates were considered and evaluated for the five positions across the three Selection Panels.
The CWI Recruitment Panel unanimously selected the following candidates who have now been confirmed:
WI Men's Panel
• Lead Selector - Roger Harper
• Selector - Miles Bascombe
WI Women's & Girls’ Panel
• Lead Selector - Ann Browne-John
• Selector - Travis Dowlin
WI Boys’ Panel
• Talent ID Manager - Robert Haynes
The teams'Head Coaches will complete the makeup of their respective panel.
