Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave believes a new men’s head coach to be selected at the end of March or early April.
Former West Indies men’s team head coach Phil Simmons has decided to resign from the position due to the poor performance of the regional team in the recently concluded T20 World Cup.
West Indies lost to Scotland and Ireland in the preliminary rounds of the World Cup and could only win against Zimbabwe.
Accordingly, Simmons’ West Indies activities ended after the concluded tour of Australia and former Jamaican wicketkeeper/batsman Andre Coley was appointed West Indies interim head coach for the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa from January to March 2023.
However, despite naming an interim head coach, Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave believes a new men’s head coach to be selected to lead the Maroons before April 1 or early April.
Asked about the interim appointment of Andre Coley, Grave said: “I think we didn’t want to rush. I think we wanted to make sure we get the best candidate and give that person the best opportunity to be successful.”
Grave also said that CWI expects to receive the Justice Thompson report a review of the World Cup performance early next week, which will be digested and discussed internally.
“We can then think about how best we want to structure the men’s team coaching set-up and then recruit and be clear to the candidates what the opportunity is and how best we can find the best person for the job,” he said.
However, Grave expects to have clarity on the structure and the type of head coach and candidate for the job by the end of this month.
The recruitment process will then commence in February, with the expected first and second round of interviews to be conducted in March.
“So by no later than Easter we would have a candidate that could come in and work with the players and establish relationships with the players ahead of the next international assignment in June,” the CEO said.