West Indies cricket are making changes in their support staff. Previously Gus Logie had been assigned as interim head coach and now, as ICC has announced, Courtney Walsh will join him as an interim assistant coach for the side. Former Guyana seamer Rayon Griffith will join the pair to complete the team’s interim coaching staff. Walsh is an all-time lead wicket-taker for West Indies and considered to be a legend. By the end of his career, he had bowled around 5000 overs and taken over 500 wickets.
Walsh has served as Bangladesh’s coach and has been one of the selectors for the West Indies as well. He says he will be primarily working with the bowlers.
“My function is to focus a lot more on the bowlers and the cricket, in general, to get the ladies together,” he said. “I’m just happy to be able to work with Gus – we haven’t had a chance to be on the same team since we were players and we just want the women to play the type of cricket we know they can play.”
Griffith, unlike both Logie and Walsh, never represented the national side. Since retiring as a player however he has served in a number of coaching roles such as assistant coach with the West Indies during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, Logie was very positive about the appointments and said “We’ve had some of the best minds and coaches in the region working with the players,” he said. “Courtney and Rayon have been working really hard with the ladies at training and we are hoping to see the results on the field.”
Evril Betty Lewis will be the team manager for the side “As a former career tourism official and Manager of the Barbados Senior Women’s Cricket Team, I am comfortable operating in the critical role as the interim manager of the West Indies Women’s Team,” she said. “I intend to bring a high level of trust, effective communication and instill a greater sense of purpose, hinged on discipline and professionalism, that the players can transfer onto the field of play.”
Cricket West Indies’ Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams said “I am confident that our entire support staff, under Gus’ leadership and direction, is capable of driving our women’s cricket forward whilst we begin the search for a permanent Head Coach,” he said.
“Gus has been involved with the program for the past two years and both Rayon and Courtney bring with them a strong working knowledge of what it takes to be successful at the elite level.”
Source: icc-cricket.com
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