KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Cricket West Indies president, Ricky Skerritt, has given the assurance there has been no change to his West Indies First policy, in the wake of several foreign coaching hires attached to the international men’s team.
Last week, former Warwickshire batsman Trevor Penney was appointed fielding coaching on a two-year contract, replacing Guyana’s Rayon Griffith who performed the role during the recent tour of the subcontinent.
The appointment, which followed those of Indian Monty Desai as batting coach and Australian Chris Barbazon as coaching education manager, sparked discussion across the region about the CWI policy.
“There is no reverse at all,” Skerritt told the Gleaner newspaper here.
“First thing is that I didn’t say we would hire West Indian coaches only. I said we would adopt a West Indian-first policy, whereby, we would look at the individuals we have in the region, and if we cannot find the respective talent to fill those roles, then we would have to go overseas to do so.”
When West Indies men’s coach Phil Simmons was named head coach last October, the recruitment process was underscored by a ‘West Indies First policy’ underscored by a CWI guideline that “persons without West Indian heritage need not apply.”
Since then, however, Caribbean coaches have been overlooked for key positions, including Desmond Haynes who was short-listed for the head coach role but then ignored for the post of batting coach.
Skerritt said the Caribbean did not possess the richness of resources which allowed CWI to choose personnel only from the region.
“The reality is that we do not have the required persons with the requisite expertise, especially in white-ball cricket, and so we had to look outside of the region to fill those positions,” he pointed out.
“The persons that we have brought in like Chris (Barbazon) are internationally qualified, and we believe they will help us to get to where we want to be.”
He added: “These coaches have been hired with a contractual obligation to share their best practices, and this is a policy with which we are moving forward so that we can develop our local coaches.
“In a week’s time, Jimmy Adams and head coach Phil Simmons, as well as our CEO, Johnny Grave, will meet to further the discussion on coaching as we look to develop our game soon.”
