Haynes, Reifer and Simmons in race to be next West Indies coach

Desmond Haynes, Floyd Reifer and Phil Simmons have been shortlisted to take over as the next West Indies head coach.

The WICB (West Indies Cricket Board) have shortlisted Desmond Haynes, Floyd Reifer and Phil Simmons as the final three contenders to take over as the next West Indies head coach. As part of the recruitment, a total of six names were interviewed, with individual sessions stretching up to 90 minutes each.

At the end of former coach Richard Pybus’ tenure in April, Reifer took over as the interim coach just before the World Cup, under whom West Indies beat Ireland, lost to Bangladesh in a triangular tournament earlier this year. In the World Cup, West Indies finished second from the bottom with just two wins and nine losses, and then lost to India 0-3,0-2, 0-2 in ODIs, T20Is and Tests.

“Critical areas discussed were applications of cricket specific experience, technical knowledge, performance planning process, performance measurement, performance-driven culture and also CWI’s core values of passion, accountability, respect, integrity and team excellence,” stated a release by CWI.

The other two candidates, Haynes and Simmons have earlier been involved with West Indies’s coaching set-up. Haynes, in 2011, was appointed batting consultant with West Indies, while Simmons has already served as their head coach between 2015 and 2016.

Ricky Skerritt, the Cricket West Indies president, was impressed with what the three shortlisted candidates are capable of bringing to the table.

“I believe that any one of the three finalists would be an excellent choice as head coach, and I wish them every success at the final stage of interviews,” Skerritt said. “On behalf of the Board and all stakeholders, I want to thank all of the applicants for coming forward to offer their services for this important leadership role. Vice President Shallow and his research and interview team have been most impressive with their efforts to date, and I want to say thank you to them as well.”

The final round of interviews will take place on October 11 and a week later, the board will come up with a decision on the applications for other roles associated with West Indies Cricket such as West Indies Men’s team panel, the West Indies Women and Girls teams panel, and the West Indies Boys selection panel.