CWI shops for separate red-ball, white-ball coaches

ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

In an attempt to energise the flagging fortunes of the marquee men's team, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced yesterday that it would adopt the modern international trend of appointing separate coaches for the red-ball and white-ball teams.

CWI's Director of Cricket, James Adams, said recruitment for the two coaching posts start immediately, with the red-ball coach also being assigned coaching responsibilities for the West Indies 'A' team whenever the vacancy is filled.

Adams added that the decision was spurred by CWI's recent independent review of the first-round exit of the men's team, under captain Nicholas Pooran, from the ICC Men's Twenty20 World Cup last October in Australia, which was conducted by a panel that including former captain Brian Lara and renowned international coach Mickey Arthur.

"After recently completing an independent review of our 2022 ICC (Men's T20) 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," Adams said in a news release.

"The increased frequency of back-to-back, multiformat 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."

The post of head coach became vacant when Phil Simmons announced his decision to resign last October after West Indies crashed out of the T20 World Cup in Australia in the first round, an outcome he described as "unfathomable".

West Indies were eliminated after they finished at the bottom of their qualifying group. They only beat Zimbabwe in their second match, but lost to Scotland and Ireland on either side of that win.

Simmons stayed on to guide West Indies through a two-Test tour of Australia a few weeks later, however, they were swept, which ended three years of moderate success under the former international opener.

Adams said the strategic split of coaching roles will bring specific focus on the management of players and the development of format-specific schedules.

"Separating the roles will also provide the head coaches with more time to oversee players' ongoing development away from tours directly, and through increased engagement and planning with suitable high-performance programmes and coaches," Adams said.