Bennett King Picks Aussie Assistant

Mon, Nov 1, '04

 

When Bennett King takes up the post as West Indies head coach in mid-November, he will have a familiar face as his full-time assistant: Australian academy senior coach David Moore.

Moore, who was in charge of using technology to provide specialist feedback to players at Australia's Centre of Excellence, will be King's deputy on the West Indies team under a new team structure that gives sweeping powers to the head coach.

Inexplicably, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) did not mention the hiring of Moore when it confirmed King's appointment alongside news that Sir Garfield Sobers will join the staff as a technical consultant.

Instead, the announcement was made by Cricket Australia in a 'thank you' note to the two coaches.

The Moore appointment is a signal that Bennett King is making full use of the new powers handed out to the new West Indies head coach, who will now be a member of the four-member selection panel with a casting vote and be responsible for selection of the starting XI.

David Moore

With Moore aboard, King gets a comfort zone to implement his vision for the team and avoids a situation where he would be stuck with staff members hired by the WICB without his approval.

Last year, when the WICB first identified King as head coach, a position he would turn down, the board also named Gus Logie as assistant coach and made it clear the Logie was being groomed as King's successor.

That did not sit very well with King, who was accustomed to hiring his own staff at Australia's cricket academy.

Moore, 40, joined the Australian academy in 2002 as a qualified educator and certified cricket coach. Before that post, Moore lectured in Personal Development, Health and Physical Development at the Australian Catholic University in Sydney.

He is currently completing a doctorate in education at the University of New England.

Moore is an ACB Level III accredited coach who served as a successful coach of the New South Wales (NSW) women's side in 2001, leading the team to victory in the Women's National Cricket League. He also did a coaching stint with the Balmain Cricket Club in Sydney.

As a cricketer, he represented NSW at all levels, from colts to Sheffield Shield between 1983 and 1989.

* EDITOR'S NOTE: Profiles and background information on Bennett King and David Moore can be viewed at Cricket Australia's Web site.