Former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams has taken over as the new director of West Indies cricket, the WICB confirmed on Tuesday. He was widely tipped to be appointed in this role after the 49-year-old recently stepped down as head coach of Kent after four years in charge.
“Jimmy will oversee and manage all cricket matters to include development of all teams, all coaching and cricket education and other technical programmes. He will have the support of an operations department,” the WICB said in their media release.
Adams played 54 Tests with a highest score of an unbeaten 208 not out. He has also played 127 ODIs and 202 first class matches. Before taking up this role, Adams had also served West Indies cricket in a variety of positions including West Indies U-19 manager. He also headed the international players association (FICA) before overseeing Jamaica’s cricket programme as technical director.
Adams has replaced Englishman Richard Pybus who did not seek a renewal of his contract. Pybus spent three years in the role but reportedly didn’t share a good relationship with players. Apparently, even former head coach Phil Simmons wasn’t on good terms with Pybus. According to reports, Adams had applied for the coach’s position when the WICB had sacked Simmons in September last year, just six months after West Indies had won the World T20 in India.
The appointment is significant given the crisis West Indies cricket is mired in. Although the team have won three world championships (junior World Cup and the men’s and women’s World Twenty20 titles) in 2016, the administration has been far from perfect. Their inability to handle senior players like Darren Sammy, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo and the mercurial Marlon Samuels has been the main reason behind West Indies’s inconsistent performance.
{{/usCountry}}The appointment is significant given the crisis West Indies cricket is mired in. Although the team have won three world championships (junior World Cup and the men’s and women’s World Twenty20 titles) in 2016, the administration has been far from perfect. Their inability to handle senior players like Darren Sammy, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo and the mercurial Marlon Samuels has been the main reason behind West Indies’s inconsistent performance.
{{/usCountry}}Darren was even sent home from the Zimbabwe tri-series last year after calling WICB chairman Dave Cameron an idiot on Twitter. A shrewd captain in his time, the onus now is on Adams to bring together the feuding players under an umbrella and guide West Indies out of this rut.
Adams said he was looking forward to contributing to the growth of West Indies cricket. “I am very excited to be directly involved in Caribbean cricket once again, and I look forward to working with all those committed to moving the game forward in the West Indies,” Adams was quoted as saying in the WICB media release.