West Indies cricket head coach Phil Simmons has been suspended which may result in him being fired.
This is very disconcerting for three reasons. First of all, Mr Simmons and Mr Clive Lloyd who happened to be the head selector, were out-voted 3-2 by the remainder of the selection panel (which consisted of Eldine Baptiste, Courtney Walsh and Courtney Browne,) on bringing back Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo to the West Indies cricket team.
Secondly, Mr Simmons revealed that external forces were the result of the vote not being in his and Mr Lloyd’s favour. For a very long time many West Indies cricket fans as well as respected journalists have suspected that possibly board directors have influenced team management and now it seems team selection.
Thirdly, the gentleman who has replaced Phil Simmons as head coach is Mr Eldine Baptiste who was rejected initially as coach. This sends the message that no employee of the West Indies Board is allowed to be vocal on internal issues.
Don’t get me wrong, in the corporate world an employee such as Simmons would be suspended and eventually be fired but because of such revelations, but the real issue at hand here is why do external forces impact on management and team selection?
West Indies cricket will never move forward if this is allowed to continue.
Christopher Olliverre
