WICB Tweaks Requirement for Coach

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has made a small, but significant, change to the job requirements for senior team coach.

Clearly looking to avoid the embarrassment episode over the sacking of Viv Richards, a public relations disaster which led to near riots at the WICB headquarters in Antigua, the board has removed the clause that the coach must have a recognised advanced coaching certificate.

Instead, the board is now clearing the way for any former first class or Test player to apply for the job. "The successful candidate will possess the following qualifications and experience: Recognised Advanced Coaching Certificate or a sound knowledge of cricket with playing experience either at the Test or first-class level, the board said.

In February 2000, hundreds of Antiguans marched and protested the WICB decision not to renew the contract of Richards as team coach because he did not have the required coaching qualifications. The protest followed the board's decision to give the job to Roger Harper.

At the time, Richards' mother said the decision was so hurtful that she was "finished" with West Indies cricket. "Not even my radio will be turned to Test cricket or anything that has to do with the West Indies. This man put so much into West Indies cricket. He was a team man, a West Indian man, and this is what they do to him," she said.

The new coaching requirements, posted on the WICB Web site, means the board is avoiding this issue altogether and may give a few hints into the thinking behind the choice of a new coach. A senior WICB official told CaribbeanCricket.com there is nothing sinister about the tweak, noting "it should have been there in the first place."

While incumbent coach Harper is expected to apply for a contract renewal, there is a strong lobby for the job to be handed youth coach Gus Logie, who will coach the Canada national team at next year's World Cup in South Africa. Other names being mentioned include former Test players Jeff Dujon and Larry Gomes and Barbados-born Roland Butcher.

The board said it was looking for a candidate to "take the lead role in developing, designing and implementing coaching strategies that will create high performance cricketers capable of sustaining peak performance both at home and away."

Among other things, the job summary mandates the coach to:

• Arrange and participate in remedial camps as directed from time to time.

• Devise and implement specific strategies and tactics to ensure competitiveness against specific individual opponents.

• Impart to each team member a high level of skill, and an appreciation for the value of discipline and commitment to individual and team performance.

• Contribute to the design and implementation of team physical conditioning protocols and organise and conduct, where applicable, comprehensive, high-quality coaching programmes for use throughout the WICB coaching structure.

• Sit on the Selection Committee and coordinate and lead all technical training and practice sessions, both on and off the field.

• Facilitate the overall development of team members, including non-technical and personal issues, through the ability to motivate and analyse statistical data and to interpret game trends from such data.

The WICB has also advertised for a new team manager but well-placed sources say chief operations officer Michael Hall will take over from the incumbent Rickey Skerritt.