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Gibson and West Indies part ways

Ottis Gibson has officially ended his tenure as West Indies coach with immediate effect. The WICB released a statement on Tuesday night that confirmed the board and Gibson had "mutually agreed to terminate their association", ending the speculation that began after Gibson was absent from team training in Grenada on Monday ahead of the first ODI against Bangladesh.

Richie Richardson, the team manager, will take charge of the side on an interim basis for the series against Bangladesh. The rest of the coaching staff, including assistant coaches Stuart Williams and Andre Coley, and bowling consultant Curtly Ambrose, will remain in their positions.

"On behalf of the board and West Indies cricket as a whole we express our gratitude to Ottis for his work, particularly in coaching the team to winning the ICC World Twenty20 in 2012, and offer our best wishes to him in all his future endeavours," Michael Muirhead, the WICB chief executive officer, said.

The board's statement also noted Gibson's "unwavering commitment and professionalism" during his tenure, which began in early 2010 when he left his job as England's bowling coach to take charge of West Indies. During his time as head coach, West Indies won nine of 36 Tests and won four Test series - two against Bangladesh and one against Zimabwe.

However, they lost back-to-back series to New Zealand both away and at home over the past nine months. They currently sit eighth on the ICC Test rankings, ahead of only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh; eighth on the ODI rankings; and seventh on the T20 rankings. Their most notable achievement during Gibson's tenure was winning the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/current/story/772227.html
 
Grim days for the West Indies. This happens days before their homes series against Bangladesh :(

Some of the comments below the article:

Happy riddance...should have never be their anyway
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Ottis Gibson in my opinion unfairly became a polarizing figure in WI cricket. He came in and tried to do things his way which every coach has a right to do. Indiscipline was too rampant in the team.Then there were the player strikes and players looking like they couldn't care less. After the last world cup in India/Bang/Sl in which the coach blamed the senior players for not leading the way, The CG saga began shortly after, Sarwan looked a shadow of himself in the tournament and SC didn't like the new routine/regime. From then on people's opinion of him was formed. The results just didn't matter. Never mind that WI have been losing from way back when( probably mid 90's after losing to Aus in the caribbean). The WI has tried a lot of different coaches as well both local and foreign. M. Marshall, Viv and clive lloyd have all been involved in one way or another and well as foreign(B. King comes to mind). It's to simplistic to lay everything on coach and captain.
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No tears for Gibson here. I am very confident that Curtly Ambrose will appropriately motivate the young fast bowlers and give them a focused sense of purpose. Hopefully Chris Gayle will up the ante. The cloud over West Indies cricket should begin to clear. Richie Richardson, Courtney Walsh and Clive Lloyd.
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More:

Gibson is gone, but Stuart Williams is still there ?

Desmond Haynes remains "fired" ....

I don't know how good a Coach Ambrose is. He is a fierce competitor and can help with the mental side of things.... Maybe he can "fix" Tino .....

WI needs to get a South African Bowling coach who was coached by Marshall ... Shaun Pollock would be excellent, since Allan Donald is tied up with South Africa...

Haynes (desmonod not roger) would be the best batting coach...

and Logie should be the fielding/catching and fitness coach ...

Saqulain is an excellent spin coach ... what happened to him?
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Rally_Windies, I like the Pollock idea. I really think the Windies only need to get a pace stable together in order to be competitive. India invests a lot in the elusive quest for pacemen (and still doesn't have much to show for it); in the interests of cricket, the ICC could do worse than subsidising similar academy training on different continents for promising Windies teenagers.
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I hope that they come with a decent squad when they tour here at the end of the year, not looking forward to test matches which are over in 3 days (cough cough India) and ODIs where SA dominate (especially before the WC in 2015)
 
And it looks like the Windies might pull this off :)
 
Windies win by 3 wickets. Pollard and Ramdin do the hard yards to get them a win.
 
Agree. Pathetic effort from Bangladesh. Emphatic win. Good to see Gayle getting runs today.
 
West Indies 484 for 7 dec (Brathwaite 212, Taijul 5-135) and 13 for 0 beat Bangladesh 182 (Benn 5-39) and (f/o) 314 (Mushfiqur 116, Roach 4-64) by ten wickets

West Indies took less than two hours to end Bangladesh's promise of a prolonged fifth day by bowling them out for 314 before their openers knocked off the required 13 runs in 2.4 overs. There was enough time for Mushfiqur Rahim to reach his third Test century but support was non-existent at the other end, as Bangladesh lost five wickets for the addition of 58 runs.

Kemar Roach was the morning's most effective bowler, picking up two wickets to finish with a four-wicket haul. Shannon Gabriel was rewarded for his strong work on the fourth day with two cheap wickets while Sulieman Benn, who didn't have to bowl an over on the fifth morning, finished the match on seven wickets.

Mushfiqur reached his century with a straight six off Roach with his side seven wickets down. He was dropped twice during the 90 minutes of play - on 71 by Chris Gayle at slip and by Jerome Taylor on 115. Gayle had dropped Mushfiqur on 10 yesterday, as had Darren Bravo when he was 25. But of the four drops, Taylor's was the simplest chance, the ball looping straight to him at mid-on.

The day began well for the visitors. Taylor's juicy full-toss was put away by Nasir Hossain and the batsman found the boundary again three overs later with a controlled pull off Roach. It looked as if he too was finding some form, just as the out-of-form Mahmudullah had with his 66.

In Roach's next over, however, Nasir stopped short of pulling the ball and his half-hearted shot popped a simple chance to Gabriel, who ran in from mid-on to complete the catch near the non-striker's end. It ended the 42-run sixth-wicket stand between Mushfiqur and Nasir, which had taken Bangladesh through a difficult period late on the fourth day. But when it ended, so did Bangladesh's hope for a fight.

Mushfiqur continued to bat positively, hitting Taylor for three boundaries in an over. He cut one past point, drove one on the up through the covers and then played a leg-glance to enter the nineties.

But the other end wasn't giving him any support. Shuvagata Hom was late on a Roach in-dipper and given out lbw. He reviewed the decision but it was always going to hit the stumps. Taijul Islam and Rubel Hossain were swiftly removed with decent pace aimed at the stumps, and the spate of wickets threatened to inflict an innings defeat on Bangladesh, before Taylor's drop averted that result.
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Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/west-indies-v-bangladesh-2014/content/current/story/779455.html

Good to see Gayle getting some runs again (even if it is against a "minnow" side).
 
WICB, WIPA sign new agreement

Following years of often bitter disputes, the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association have signed a new collective bargaining agreement and memorandum of understanding on Thursday. Whycliffe Cameron, the WICB president, signed on behalf of the board, while Wavell Hinds, the WIPA president, signed on behalf of the association.

Cameron hailed the signing as the most important thing done for West Indies cricket in the past two years. "What it means is that we are going to have 105 players engaged in cricket all year round," Cameron said. "We are going to have 15 at the WICB level - which I will call the international team, while we will have 90 players at the regional franchise level - 15 players among the six teams.

"This is a watershed moment for West Indies cricket as we are setting up our franchise and professional system to ensure that West Indies cricket can go back to its rightful place," Cameron said. "West Indies cricket is not about the administrators, it is really about the players.

"I am very happy that we have been able to negotiate over the last couple of months when it was very difficult but we have come to the point where we believe we have the making of a very good agreement that will ensure that we can take West Indies cricket to the top… The agreement is we do better as an organisation and the players do better."

Hinds said the agreement promoted meritocracy and involved an increased share of WICB revenue for domestic players, unlike the old structure where the majority share went to international players. "We have decided as a body, that we will take a chunk of that amount from the international pool and spread it across the regional group into the player pool on a meritocracy basis.

"I think it is spread out nicely...This document covers everyone in full," Hinds said. "It is important that we put the different categories in place from the start to the professional level. There is a pay-as-you-play or a minimum salary, retainer contracts up to the 'A' level that the WICB affords the international cricketers.

"But we think that it must be a meritocracy basis and that you have to earn your keep to get into the different categories," Hinds said. "As the players association, once that was understood from the membership and of course, we highlighted the fact that it is replicated and practised around the world, the players bought into it and the WICB had a similar vision, so it was easy to come to an agreement."

Hinds said that while the agreement was not "perfect", it brought stability to the system and that the players were prepared to make "sacrifices" on their part. "It is not a perfect document. Of course, it is still a work in progress, so there will be trials and errors and we are all prepared for that as that's the nature of life and business.

"We know that for the long haul and legacy of West Indies cricket and where we came from as a region, fetching balls from cane fields to the point where we had 20 years of glory, led by Clive Lloyd and company, that to get back to those years, we needed to make sacrifices as players and make sure that we are prepared as players and not learning on the job."

Richard Pybus, the WICB director of cricket, said the agreement was "fantastic" for the players. "We will have structured support mechanisms for the players and will provide a competitive wage in a competitive marketplace which is going to be fantastic in terms of the product we put on the field."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/current/story/782193.html
 
Narine banned from bowling in CLT20 final

Sunil Narine has been barred from bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League T20 final on Saturday after being reported for a second time in two matches for a suspect action. He was reported by the umpires after Thursday's semi-final against Hobart Hurricanes, which Knight Riders won by seven wickets. He had also been reported following their final group match, against Dolphins, when the umpires questioned his quicker delivery.

ESPNcricinfo understands that this time the umpires, Rod Tucker, S Ravi and Vineet Kulkarni, had noted in their written complaint that several of the 24 deliveries Narine bowled against Hurricanes were suspect. "It was three deliveries in the last match. But this time all his four overs were reported," an official privy to the complaint said.

No official from Knight Riders' management responded to queries, so it is not yet known whether the franchise might appeal against the penalty.

According to a Champions League T20 release, the umpires reviewed footage of the semi-final and "felt that there was a flex action in Narine's elbow beyond the acceptable limit when bowling during the match". He had already been on the tournament's warning list and, since he had not subsequently had his action cleared, is now automatically banned from bowling further in the tournament.

Knight Riders will now be "advised" to send Narine to the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai - which has been accredited by the ICC as a testing centre for suspect bowling actions - to have his action tested.

The bowling ban will not affect his West Indies duties, though - it is confined only to the Champions League T20 and other BCCI-organised tournaments, including the IPL.

Darren Sammy, Narine's West Indies team-mate, came out in support of him on Thursday, prior to him being reported a second time. "I am not worried. Narine is a champion. Whether they stop him from bowling the faster ball, he is still the most dangerous spinner in the world," Sammy had said. "I believe that he will still be a great asset to us. He will do whatever he has to do and have all his different tricks up his sleeves by the time the World Cup is here. I still feel he will be our a champion spinner."

Narine is the fourth bowler to be reported in the Champions League - the others are Lahore Lions' Adnan Rasool and Mohammad Hafeez, and Dolphins' Prenelan Subrayen. However, he is the first bowler to be reported a second time. This comes at a time when the ICC has been stepping up its action against suspect bowling actions, with several spinners being called and suspended from bowling in international cricket.

It comes as a big blow to Knight Riders, as they look to extend their T20 winning streak to 15 and secure the double of winning the IPL and the Champions League T20 in the same year.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/champions-league-twenty20-2014/content/current/story/786857.html
 
Narine withdrawn by WICB from India tour

The WICB has decided to withdraw offspinner Sunil Narine from the entire India tour. A WICB spokesperson confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Narine was being called back home after the Champions League T20 banned him from bowling having called his action illegal.

The West Indies board later sent a press release stating that Narine had been withdrawn to allow him "the opportunity to have his action assessed and plan his return to cricket". The decision to stand down Narine leaves West Indies with no specialist spinner for the one-dayers against India. A replacement player is yet to be named.

Clive Lloyd, the West Indies chairman of selectors, was unhappy with the Champions League T20's procedure for dealing with suspect actions. "I am disappointed that our best bowler could suddenly be out of the tour," he said. "I am quite disappointed about the procedure that surrounded the 'calling' of Sunil in the Champions Trophy tournament. These things have the potential to disrupt the team's preparation for a critical series against India but we will have to overcome this hurdle."

From October 8, West Indies will play five ODIs and a T20 against India, before three Tests. Narine's bowling ban is restricted only to the Champions League and other BCCI-run tournaments like the IPL, but the decision to remove him from the tour means scrutiny on him has now extended into international cricket as well.

Narine's absence will be more immediately felt by his IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders, who will be without their best bowler in Saturday's CLT20 final against Chennai Super Kings. The Knight Riders management was surprised with the umpires' ruling on Narine, particularly the fact that two days after his faster delivery was reported, his action for several deliveries was termed suspect.

However, Venky Mysore, Knight Riders' CEO, said that the franchise would comply with the measures recommended by BCCI, so that Narine can bowl in BCCI-run tournaments like the IPL. Mysore said he did not want to question the authority of the umpires. "Those are the rules. We accept that. We will be very supportive of everything that Sunil wants to do," Mysore said. "If WICB reaches out, we are always there to support them. We are going to miss him in the final, but we are there to do everything to support him as we don't want his career to get affected.

"I have to say the timing is surprising and so is the fact that he was the only one called twice in the tournament. But we will do everything to help him to put this behind him."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/current/story/787067.html
 
Samuels' 126* powers WI to huge win

West Indies 321 for 6 (Samuels 126*, Ramdin 61, Shami 4-66) beat India 197 (Dhawan 68, Samuels 2-10, Dwayne Bravo 2-28) by 124 runs

No Sunil Narine, no Chris Gayle, losses in the two practice games followed by a dispute between players and the board on the eve of the first match. When Dwayne Bravo's letter to WICB mentioned the West Indies team morale was at "an all-time low", no one would have doubted it. Still, the visitors somehow found a way to galvanise.

Marlon Samuels, playing his first ODI in seven months, led a strong West Indies batting effort in the series opener, scoring his sixth century - his second against India - to pose a tough challenge for the hosts. With Denesh Ramdin, who scored 61, Samuels added 165 in 23.1 overs for the fourth wicket - a West Indies record against India - to convert a solid start into an imposing total. The bowlers then extracted enough help from the pitch to dismantle India's batting line-up ruthlessly. It could have been West Indies' biggest win against India in terms of runs, but a vexing last-wicket stand of 42 between Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami prevented that.

Both Samuels and Ramdin had scored runs in the two practice games, but what they did not have in those fixtures was a strong start. Today, when the two got together, the scoreboard read 120 for 3. The Indian spinners could not get any purchase nor did they exert any control, and the batsmen built slowly, finding the odd boundary and rotating the strike to keep the run rate above five at the 30-over mark.

It only got better from there. Samuels welcomed Amit Mishra, who struggled with his lines throughout the innings, with a couple of straight sixes in the 31st over, then reached his half-century in the 34th with another straight six, off Suresh Raina. Power was never an issue; Samuels found the distance when he wanted. What was noticeable was the number of singles he took to keep his strike-rate around 100 through his innings.

Ramdin took over from Samuels during the batting Powerplay, smashing a Shami full-toss over the cover boundary and helping West Indies swell their score by 16 in that over. At the other end, fielders watched as Samuels' powerful cuts pinged the boundary. That India's bowlers were losing control became apparent in the 40th over as Jadeja gave away 10 extra runs through leg-side wides. Fifty-two runs came in the Powerplay and by the end of it, West Indies' run rate had moved to six an over. Samuels reached his century with a calm dab down the ground and although West Indies lost a bit of momentum due to quick wickets, Samuels carried on with precision violence to finish unbeaten on 126.

The target of 322 would not have affected India at the outset of the chase; they have been the most successful side chasing anything above 300. The home side started confidently with Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane finding the boundary. As the team approached 50, Dhawan was guilty of not responding to Rahane's call for a second and both batsmen ended up at the same end, resulting in Rahane's dismissal. Virat Kohli followed in the next over, edging to first slip in a manner reminiscent of his days in England. But the slide was confirmed when Raina, who stroked an unbeaten century in the Champions League T20 final last week, played on against his Chennai Super Kings team-mate Dwayne Bravo.

The West Indies bowlers had been wayward to start with, but gathered themselves as the pitch quickened up. Taylor found pace, the medium pacers found movement and the spinners found the right lengths. India's batsmen appeared all at sea, a bit like their spinners and fielders in the first innings. At the toss, Dhoni had said he was clear on the spinners for the World Cup, but wanted the seamers to settle. However, it was the spinners who failed to apply pressure today and ended up with a combined tally of 22-0-144-2. With a maximum of nine games remaining before the World Cup, India, the defending champions, have a few chinks to mend.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-west-indies-2014-15/content/story/788019.html
 
Wrong time to ban bowlers with suspect actions - Richards

Former West Indies captain Viv Richards has said the ICC's crackdown on bowlers with suspect actions has not come at the correct time and it should have been done a while ago.

"In my opinion such action should have been taken some time ago and on a wider basis because these guys have been there for quite some time," Richards said in Colombo, where he is with the West Indies A team as technical director.

"I am not sure because West Indies are touring India, there is going to be a World Cup next year, whether all this has something to do with it, I just believe the timing has to be good. With the next World Cup around the corner this is not the correct time to take such measures."

West Indies spinner Sunil Narine was reported twice for a suspect action during the recent Champions League T20 and was barred from bowling in the final and other tournaments organised by the BCCI. The West Indies Cricket Board took a precautionary measure of withdrawing him from the India tour "to have his action assessed."

"Sunil Narine is a mystery man like Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan], it's going to hurt West Indies cricket more than any other team," Richards said.

Apart from Narine, Sri Lanka offspinner Sachithra Senanayake, Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal and a number of other spinners were reported for suspect actions and banned from bowling in the last year.

Speaking of West Indies' chances in the 2015 World Cup, Richards said, "West Indies have a magnificent team and I think if they can gel well they can accomplish victory. They are a multi-talented team when you look at the Bravos, the Andre Russells, the Pollards. We can beat anyone on any given day and if we do that we will be pretty much in the picture."

With the West Indies team touring India, Richards said there was a possibility of some of the players from the A team joining the seniors for the Test series.

"We hope that when we [West Indies A] leave here [Sri Lanka] we have some exciting players who would do justice to West Indies cricket in the future. The challenge for the future is for the present individuals to try and emulate how well West Indies did in the past. It's a huge task but you should never ever say 'never' because all things are possible."

West Indies A play three four-day matches and three one-dayers against Sri Lanka A, with the first match starting on October 11 in Hambantota.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/788061.html
 
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