Richard Pybus, a coach who has been hovering around the West Indies set-up in some form or another for since 2013, was recently appointed as the head coach of the West Indies. This came not long after he had been appointed to the new role of high performance director for the team, a newly created role which had not been advertised and had little consultancy take place before he was chosen to fill it. Pybus has earned the ire of many senior West Indies cricketers by making it mandatory for them to play in the West Indies domestic competition in order to be considered for international duties.
With Stuart Law choosing to end his coaching role early to go to Middlesex, Nic Pothas took over as interim coach, and there was an expectation that he would be named as the head coach permanently within the near future. Instead, there was an announcement the other day that Pybus would be taking on the role instead until midway through this year. But now the Leeward Islands Cricket Board is demanding his appointment be rescinded with president Dave Cameron explaining the process undertaken for Pybus' appointment. Why? Because with both the head coach and high performance role, Cameron is accused of having hand-picked Pybus without consultation.
Pybus' entry into West Indies cricket coincides with Cameron's ascension to the presidency of the Board, a period that has been characterised by never-ending chaos with occasional puncturings of hope. It can be safely assumed that Cameron and Pybus have similar views on the professionalisation of cricket in the West Indies, which are best explained by the interview Cameron did with Cricinfo in 2016 (part 1, part 2), in which he also shows off the achievements of the team (World T20, Women's World Cup, U-19 World Cup), the introduction of the CPL and the professional wages now paid to first class players as results of his tenure.
However, simultaneous to that have been a series of related crises boiling down to player relations, with both past and present cricketers. In fact, Cameron has a habit of taking criticism badly and personally, as best exemplified in the banning of Michael Holding, Tony Cozier and Fazeer Mohammed from commentating on the team (which then-coach Phil Simmons also had a hand in, again showing that a preference for like-mindedness). This is not to say that he and his supporters are entirely at fault for the T20 jetsetters that make up most of the veterans of West Indies cricket - they themselves have often been equally unwilling to compromise or let go of grievances. But unlike Cameron, they don't have a long-term position stitched up.
His personal conduct and that of his board led CARICOM, the political body that oversees multilateral cooperation between the Caribbean nations, came together to formulate a re-structuring of the board and recommded that the board be dissolved way back in 2015. It still hasn't happened, and CARICOM is still trying to figure out how to actually do what it wants to do while CWI (the new name of the West Indies Cricket Board as a commercial entity, or "Windies" for short [not as a nickname, that's the actual name that Cameron has been insisting the team be called in all international cricket - not West Indies, just Windies]) refuses to cooperate.
Political wrangling is nothing new in the West Indies, which is part of the reason I have previously argued that they would be better off splitting up (part 1, part 2). But CWI under Cameron has managed to get all the governments of the Caribbean aligned against it, while all the boards have generally either supported him or stayed silent. An example of what these boards can be is that of Trinidad and Tobago, whose board is having their own election soon (after it was meant to take place in 2016). The incumbent president, Azim Bassarath, starts with 12 votes belonging to the outgoing board members. He will need another 13 votes to secure his position, whereas his opponent is starting with 0 votes and needs 25. His opponent is former Test player Dinanath Ramnarine, who led a court injunction against the board election precisely because of this voting system, supported by other notable players in Darren Ganga and Samuel Badree. The Court threw out the injunction.
All this has been happening while the West Indies' results in the international arena have continued to plummet. With many of their best players drifting in and out of the team (including a Sunil Narine that many suspect will not play internationally again in case he gets called for throwing for a third time), the team had to go to the World Cup Qualifiers in 2018, a tournament they onlywon came second in due to the captain Jason Holder, who held off the UAE and PNG in the group stages and Zimbabwe in the Super Sixes (which they wouldn't have even made without those two earlier wins). Making it into the World Cup was pretty much the highlight of the year, aside from a 2-0 Test series victory at home over Bangladesh, which was reversed later in the year when they toured Bangladesh instead. While the CPL's making money Cameron will probably keep ruling the roost, but given his justifications revolve around improving the international results of the team, they will need to start winning at some point to justify him.
With Stuart Law choosing to end his coaching role early to go to Middlesex, Nic Pothas took over as interim coach, and there was an expectation that he would be named as the head coach permanently within the near future. Instead, there was an announcement the other day that Pybus would be taking on the role instead until midway through this year. But now the Leeward Islands Cricket Board is demanding his appointment be rescinded with president Dave Cameron explaining the process undertaken for Pybus' appointment. Why? Because with both the head coach and high performance role, Cameron is accused of having hand-picked Pybus without consultation.
Pybus' entry into West Indies cricket coincides with Cameron's ascension to the presidency of the Board, a period that has been characterised by never-ending chaos with occasional puncturings of hope. It can be safely assumed that Cameron and Pybus have similar views on the professionalisation of cricket in the West Indies, which are best explained by the interview Cameron did with Cricinfo in 2016 (part 1, part 2), in which he also shows off the achievements of the team (World T20, Women's World Cup, U-19 World Cup), the introduction of the CPL and the professional wages now paid to first class players as results of his tenure.
However, simultaneous to that have been a series of related crises boiling down to player relations, with both past and present cricketers. In fact, Cameron has a habit of taking criticism badly and personally, as best exemplified in the banning of Michael Holding, Tony Cozier and Fazeer Mohammed from commentating on the team (which then-coach Phil Simmons also had a hand in, again showing that a preference for like-mindedness). This is not to say that he and his supporters are entirely at fault for the T20 jetsetters that make up most of the veterans of West Indies cricket - they themselves have often been equally unwilling to compromise or let go of grievances. But unlike Cameron, they don't have a long-term position stitched up.
His personal conduct and that of his board led CARICOM, the political body that oversees multilateral cooperation between the Caribbean nations, came together to formulate a re-structuring of the board and recommded that the board be dissolved way back in 2015. It still hasn't happened, and CARICOM is still trying to figure out how to actually do what it wants to do while CWI (the new name of the West Indies Cricket Board as a commercial entity, or "Windies" for short [not as a nickname, that's the actual name that Cameron has been insisting the team be called in all international cricket - not West Indies, just Windies]) refuses to cooperate.
Political wrangling is nothing new in the West Indies, which is part of the reason I have previously argued that they would be better off splitting up (part 1, part 2). But CWI under Cameron has managed to get all the governments of the Caribbean aligned against it, while all the boards have generally either supported him or stayed silent. An example of what these boards can be is that of Trinidad and Tobago, whose board is having their own election soon (after it was meant to take place in 2016). The incumbent president, Azim Bassarath, starts with 12 votes belonging to the outgoing board members. He will need another 13 votes to secure his position, whereas his opponent is starting with 0 votes and needs 25. His opponent is former Test player Dinanath Ramnarine, who led a court injunction against the board election precisely because of this voting system, supported by other notable players in Darren Ganga and Samuel Badree. The Court threw out the injunction.
All this has been happening while the West Indies' results in the international arena have continued to plummet. With many of their best players drifting in and out of the team (including a Sunil Narine that many suspect will not play internationally again in case he gets called for throwing for a third time), the team had to go to the World Cup Qualifiers in 2018, a tournament they only
Last edited:
