Roland Butcher Wants to Coach W.I

Barbados-born Roland Butcher, the first black cricketer to represent England, wants to coach the West Indies team.

According to a report in the Barbados Nation, the 48-year-old Butcher plans to apply for the job of West Indies coach should the post become vacant when coach Roger Harper's contract expires at the end of next year.

I don't know what the plans of the West Indies Cricket Board are. Mr Harper may still be in the position after the World Cup, but if the position does become vacant, I certainly will be making an attempt for it," Butcher told the newspaper.

The report said Butcher, who played three Tests and three one-day internationals for England during the 1980/81 season, applied for the job two years ago and was among five candidates who were short-listed for interviews.

Butcher also played for Middlesex in the county championship and had a stint was the Australian state side, Tasmania in 1982-83.

He received advanced coaching training in 1979 and during the past 20 years, has coached Australian first-class side Tasmania, Takapuna in New Zealand, the Bermuda national team and several other clubs in England, the newspaper said.

Butcher criticised the coaching methods used
around the Caribbean and decried the trend in the West Indies to adopt Australian practices. "I feel coaches in the Caribbean are not monitored. If you look at the present side, in all the players there are huge deficiencies in their techniques," Butcher said.

"One gripe I have is the tendancy to think everything Australian ? academies, rewriting the coaching manual. I'm not happy with that. About 15 years ago, these same Australians were in awe of the way we played. What we are doing now is saying that what we did 15 to 20 years ago was no good, so we?ll throw it out the window and we are going to adopt what the Australians say because they are the dominant force at the moment," Butcher told nation.

"What will happen in two years? time when India are the dominant force? Will we throw away the Australian manuals and go all Indian. We've got to keep what has been good about West Indies cricket. We?ve a certain style of playing the game of cricket in the West Indies that has to be retained. The danger is our coaches will become brainwashed and just do everything they [Australians] are saying," he added.