The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

SimmonsÂ’ outcome still pending

Sun, Oct 4, '15

by TONY COZIER

Commentary

ANDY ROBERTS posed a particularly pertinent question in the aftermath of Phil Simmons’ suspension as West Indies coach.
Why the rush to install Eldine Baptiste as interim coach for the tour of Sri Lanka? Roberts wanted to know.

The pioneer of Clive Lloyd’s fast bowling arsenal in the late 1970s had himself been sacked as coach after a year, following the West Indies stunning loss to Kenya in the the 1996 World Cup. He was replaced by Lloyd.
His comment at the time is apt now. “A lot of these decisions are taken by people who do not really understand cricket,” he said. “It’s one thing to read about cricket, it’s another thing to understand it.”
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) stated that the responsibilities of the head coach would pass to Baptiste “until the matter is cleared up”.
It noted that he was already assigned to Sri Lanka as the selector-on-tour, hinting that it was a money-saving arrangement. Yet Stuart Williams, the assistant coach, is also there. He filled in as head coach for the tour of South Africa and the World Cup following the sacking of Ottis Gibson just over a year ago while the WICB waited for Simmons’ availability at the end of his eight highly acclaimed years with Ireland.
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