KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Well-regarded West Indies bowling coach, Roddy Estwick, has been sacked for the upcoming ICC World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
The 56-year-old, who joined the Caribbean side’s coaching staff 20 months ago, will be replaced by a coach from outside the region.
CWI president Dave Cameron confirmed the move but declined to name Estwick’s replacement citing “protocol”.
“We are bringing in a different bowling coach and we will also solidify the batting,” Cameron told TVJ Sports here, while hinting at other changes in the management setup.
“I’m not sure I’m at liberty to disclose the name of the coach … but he’s not from the region. Again, we want to bolster our bowling. I believe that if we have good bowlers, then whatever we get to make our batting will take care of that.”
Estwick joined the Windies management in May, 2016, replacing the legendary former Windies fast bowler, Sir Curtly Ambrose, ahead of the Tri-Nations Series in the Caribbean involving Australia and South Africa.
Througout his tenure, the Barbadian has earned praise from players, with seamers like Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach crediting him with their recent development.
Gabriel snatched 44 wickets in Tests in a 15-month period ending last December while Roach, who returned to international cricket last August following a 19-month break, picked up 25 wickets in seven Tests.
However, West Indies endured a wretched run in New Zealand last December, failing to win a single game as they suffered 3-0 whitewashes in the Test and one-day series, and a 2-0 defeat in the three-match Twenty20 series.
The Caribbean bowlers struggled, dismissing the Black Caps just once in the two Tests.
Estwick was a member of the Windies management group headed by Australian head coach Stuart Law, and which also included team operations manager, Joel Garner; batting coach, Toby Radford; fielding coach, Ryan Maron; physio, CJ Clark and strength and fitness coordinator, Ronald Rogers.
West Indies will be the highest ranked side in the March 4-25 qualifiers, as they chase one of the two remaining spots at the 2019 World Cup.
The Caribbean side missed out on automatic qualification after they were ranked ninth in the ICC one-day rankings at the September 30, 2017 cutoff date. Only hosts England, the remaining top-seven ranked sides earned direct qualification.
