Windies confirm Richard Pybus as interim coach despite protests

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has confirmed that it would not change the decision after appointing Richard Pybus as the head coach of the national team. The appointment had met with a series of protests even as former skipper Darren Sammy ridiculed the decision. The Leewards Islands Cricket Board (LICB) also protested the appointment and went as far as saying that Pybus was “handpicked” by Dave Cameron, the CWI president.

However, unfazed by the protests, the board has decided to move on with the decision. Consequently, Pybus will be in charge when Windies host England later this month. The former English cricketer is likely to remain at the helm at least until August. Prior to that, West Indies will have some major commitments like the World Cup in England and the subsequent home series against India.

Pybus has temporarily replaced Stuart Law who stepped down in September to take over as head coach at Middlesex. But his appointment has been marred with a series of controversies. The LICB claimed that Jimmy Adams, the director of cricket, submitted 11 names including Nic Pothas, who was appointed stand-in coach for the Bangladesh tour in November 2018. The others were Roddy Estwick, Floyd Reifer, Gus Logie, Desmond Haynes, Toby Radford, Andre Coley, Esuan Crandon, Stuart Williams, Rayon Griffith and Robert Samuels.

But despite the series of protests, CWI insisted that the appointment was not rigged. In a press release, it stated that “the appointment of Pybus was made with the support of more than two-thirds of its board to ensure the team had strong leadership ahead of the busy cricket season this year”.

Pybus’ controversial stint in the Caribbeans:

This will be Pybus’ second stint with West Indies after his first stint with CWI ended in January 2017, his initial time with the team was a forgettable one. It was Pybus who made it mandatory for a player to participate in the domestic first-class and one-day cricket tournaments to qualify for selection into the national team.

Many senior players vehemently opposed the policy and instead opted to solely operate in overseas Twenty20 leagues. It eventually hurt the national side as Windies had to play quite a few assignments without their major stars.

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