Former England bowling coach Ottis Gibson will take over as head coach of the West Indies in time for the home series against Zimbabwe later this month, a cricket official said.
“Ottis will begin his appointment from the start of the home series against Zimbabwe,” Ernest Hilaire, chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), told CBC Radio in an interview on Tuesday.
Hilaire added that interim coach David Williams would remain in charge for the one-day tour of Australia before being appointed Gibson’s assistant for the home series that starts with a Twenty20 international in Trinidad on February 28.
“I think we need to take Ottis’s appointment in stride. He will be the head coach of the WICB, and not just head coach of the senior team,” Hilaire said.
“He will have responsibility for coaching right across all of our representative cricket teams.
“This will give him an opportunity to stamp a particular style of coaching, a West Indies way, across all the teams.
“This is really important because by the time our players reach the senior team, they should be the finished article, and they really ought to be focusing mainly on their strategy, tactics, how they win games, and being able to execute.”
Hilaire added that Gibson’s appointment “has to be a long-term project. This is not a short-term project. We are not asking Ottis to turn around the West Indies fortunes and make them a winning team overnight. There has to be a gradual chain of development.”
Former all-rounder Gibson represented West Indies in two Tests and 15 one-day internationals, and enjoyed a long first-class career in the Caribbean, South Africa and England.
He was named England’s bowling coach in 2007, gaining experience Hilaire said had marked him out as the best candidate for the Windies job.
“We hope that with him responsible for all coaching, he can start outlining to the coaches of all our teams the kind of players and approaches he wants from the players to ensure there is a clear career pathway as they move from the junior ranks to the senior team,” Hilaire said.
“He is a new era coach, and someone who has been exposed to all of the technologies and new approaches to coaching.
“We are hoping that he will bring to this task an understanding of West Indies cricket. He will have all requisite knowledge and skills.”
Hugh Morris, managing director of the England and Wales Cricket Board, poured lavish praise on the outgoing Gibson.
“We are extremely grateful to Ottis for his hard work as England fast bowling coach,” Morris said.
“Since becoming the full-time England fast bowling coach in 2007 he has contributed so much to the success of the team and was an integral part of the Ashes-winning backroom staff last summer.”
England coach Andy Flower added: “Ottis has been a valuable member of my management team and we will all be sorry to see him leave.
“However we recognise that being offered the chance to be head coach of your country was an offer that would be hard for Ottis to resist. We wish him well in the future.” — AFP