BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IN its bid to raise the standard of cricket at the highest level among the men’s regional team, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has confirmed that it is splitting the coaching duties by hiring separate coaches for the red and white ball teams.
The announcement was made this morning (Mar. 15) as the regional side gears up for the limited overs series against South Africa, which bowls off later this week.
It comes against the backdrop of a busy calendar year for West Indies that includes the 50 Over World Cup slated for the sub-continent.
“Recruitment for both Head Coach roles will start immediately for a Red Ball Head Coach for Test and ‘A’ Team cricket, as well as a White Ball Head Coach for One-Day Internationals (ODI) and T20 Internationals (T20I) cricket,” CWI said in a media statement.
The decision is part of broad-based recommendations put forward by a three-member panel that sought to review the debacle of the team that competed at the 2022 T20 World Cup following the shock exit in the qualifying round.
Jimmy Adams, CWI’s Director of Cricket, said: "After recently completing an independent review of our 2022 ICC World Cup performance, which included a closer look at the roles of the current Head Coach position, we believe it is now necessary to split the role and engage separate coaches for red and white ball formats. The increased frequency of back-to-back multi-format tours combined with the specific demands of the respective formats no longer provides enough time for one individual to adequately plan, prepare and review across bilateral series and franchise itineraries that are so condensed.”
According to Adams, separating the roles would also provide the Head Coaches with more time to oversee the players’ “ongoing development away from tours directly, and through increased engagement and planning with suitable high-performance programmes and coaches”.
The position of West Indies Men’s Head Coach became vacant when Phil Simmons resigned following the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup, and subsequently relinquished the post following the end of the West Indies tour of Australia last December.
Andre Coley is the current Interim Head Coach for the recent Test series in Zimbabwe and the current multi-format tour of South Africa.
Recruitment for both Head Coach positions are expected to commence shortly.
