PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad CMC:
DINANATH RAMNARINE, the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) president, has criticised the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over their timing of the appointment of new cricket coach Bennett King and his technical staff.
In a letter to WICB president Teddy Griffith on Friday, acknowledging the former Australia Cricket Academy head as the new coach, Ramnarine expressed his dissatisfaction with the belated selection of the team's technical staff.
The announcement of King's appointment was made late last Saturday and came on the heels of the final between Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana at Kensington Oval. Ramnarine said a more timely selection would have allowed King and other new appointees to see the regional players in action during the tournament.
EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED
"WIPA wishes to state that we are extremely disappointed that the WICB did not make these appointments in time for the new coach and his assistants to witness the recently-concluded West Indies limited overs cricket championship," the Trinidad Express quoted the letter as saying.
"It is our view that the coach and his assistants missed out on a golden opportunity to witness all the regional and international players on display prior to the one-day series early next year in Australia."
The letter continued: "What was even more disappointing was that the WICB was fully aware prior to the commencement of the ICC Champions Trophy in England that the incumbent coach Gus Logie was not going to continue in his role as coach of the West Indies team."
Noting that he recognised the need for a thorough selection process, Ramnarine also felt there was enough time to finalise the nominations, describing it as "another example of the ineptness" about which his organisation has complained to the WICB on several occasions.
BOARD HAD SUFFICIENT TIME
"While we understand that a selection process has to take place in order to appoint the ideal candidate, we think that the board had sufficient time to get the coach and his assistant in place and have them witness the players on stage in Guyana and Barbados."
Though discontented with the timing of the appointment, Ramnarine also extended greetings to the new coach, as well as assistant coach David Moore, also of Australia, and former West Indies allrounder Sir Garfield Sobers, who holds the position of technical consultant.
