Former West Indies captains Carl Hooper and Floyd Reifer have been named as Assistant Coaches in the white ball teams to work alongside new Head coach Daren Sammy, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced.
James Franklin, the former New Zealand allrounder is the third assistant coach. They have joined the team ahead of the start of the upcoming three-match One Day International (ODI) series against United Arab Emirates (UAE) as Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Thursday announced the members of the coaching and support staff for the West Indies men’s red-ball and white-ball teams.
Speaking on the appointments, Sammy said, “Cricket is a team sport. Therefore, having the right set of people around you, who share your vision, is extremely important. This is a group of hard-working, passionate men, who have no egos. Our collective desire is to have a positive impact on the players and West Indies cricket.”
Hooper is one of the most successful allrounders in West Indies history – the only player to score over 5,000 runs and take over 100 wickets in both Tests and ODIs. He worked previously at various levels of coaching in the Caribbean and Australia. Reifer also has experience across various levels from regional to international.
Hooper, the former allrounder from Guyana, expressed his desire to see West Indies cricket move forward. Hooper stated,
“When I was initially approached by Daren about the potential opportunity, I immediately confirmed my interest, as I really want to help with the challenge and make a meaningful impact. I firmly believe that it is time for West Indies Cricket to ascend, and I am confident in my ability, knowledge, and experience to aid in this endeavour,” he was quoted as saying by CWI in a release on Thursday.
For the Test team, former West Indies players Kenny Benjamin and Stuart Williams; as well as Rayon Griffith will be the assistant coaches, working alongside head coach, Andre Coley. Benjamin and Griffith were part of the coaching staff for the tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa earlier this year, while Williams has previously worked as an Assistant Coach on various tours.
Coley, who took the team to Zimbabwe and South Africa earlier this year as head coach, is confident that some continuity will be beneficial to the players, stating
“We are looking for as much continuity as possible in the preparation for our upcoming assignments. Kenny and Rayon will continue in their roles from the previous two tours, and Stuart Williams is currently with the ‘A’ team in Bangladesh. It is a hard-working group with some clear tasks outlined and we can effectively serve West Indies cricket as a unit for the upcoming series against India.”
The other members of the team management unit who will wo’k with the WI men’s teams across all formats are: Rawl Lewis (Team Manager), Denis Byam (Physiotherapist), Ronald Rogers (Strength & Conditioning Coach), Avenash Seetaram (Analyst) and Dario Barthley (Media & Content Officer).
The West Indies are presently in Sharjah for the series against UAE, which starts on Sunday (June 4) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The second match is on Tuesday (June 6) and the third and final match will be played on Friday (June 9).
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