Head Coach to assume greater responsibilit…New management structure for Windies team
Guyana Chronicle
July 18, 2004
PORT.OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) - Under a new management structure for the West Indies cricket team, the Head Coach will assume greater responsibility and his contract will be tied to the performance of the team.
Teddy Griffith, president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), revealed elements of the new management structure when he delivered the feature address at the 48th anniversary dinner of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board on Friday.
The proposed structure, which is still being finalised, comes following research conducted by a WICB committee, led by vice-president Val Banks, over the last few months.
There are distinct roles for the manager, coach, captain and selectors, and the structure provides for clear reporting lines and accountability.
The Head Coach will be on contract and his primary role would be to prepare the West Indies team for international competitions. He would also be a member of the selection panel - with the casting vote - and the principal authority on the selection of the final 11.
“It follows, therefore, that he will be accountable for the performance of the team and will be judged accordingly in relation to his contract,” Griffith told the audience.
Griffith disclosed that the team manager would become a full-time employee of the WICB, whose responsibilities would not be limited to the West Indies team while it is on tour, but would include management of the coaching staff and all contracted players.
The Manager would be the point of contact with the WICB Secretariat for the services the team unit would need including finance, marketing, communications, operations, transportation and development.
“He must also ensure that the entire unit conforms to the policies of the WICB including the Code of Conduct,” Griffith said. “He is, therefore, the representative of the WICB in the team unit.”
Griffith also revealed that the selection panel, which would consist of four members, including the Head Coach and a Convenor.
The Convenor of Selectors will be responsible for determining the roster of his fellow selectors and scheduling the meetings of the panel, he added.
When the retainer contract system is finally instituted, Griffith said the selectors would be responsible for nominating the players, who should be retained and would also recommend a captain and vice-captain for consideration by the directors of the WICB, as is the case now.
Under the new system, the selectors would be appointed by the WICB upon the recommendations of the Cricket Committee - Playing, in consultation with the manager of the team, and with nominations from the member boards, he said.
To assist in this exercise, criteria had been drawn up upon which nominations would be based including playing experience at Test or first-class level and sound analytical skills, Griffith stated.
The captain would lead the team on the field and carry out the strategy and tactics as determined in collaboration with the Head Coach.
“There will always of course be flexibility as circumstances might alter cases, but the overall strategy would have been pre-determined and he would be implementing them,” the WICB president said.
Griffith acknowledged that the decline of the team had been steep, but he was heartened by the recent performance in the three-nation limited-overs series in England, where West Indies reached the final. He said, however, there is still is a long way to go before West Indies can ascend to the heights they scaled between the late 1970s, and early 90s.