Opinions split on Sammy’s appointment as white ball coach
Published:Tuesday | May 16, 2023 | 1:33 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
FORMER Jamaica and West Indies fast bowler Daren Powell has welcomed the move to appoint former teammate Daren Sammy as the new white ball coach for the West Indies team. Powell believes that despite the move being rather unorthodox from the West Indies cricket board, it is one that he believes will be rewarding for the team in the future as Sammy has the ability to motivate players far more than an experienced coach.
“It’s something unorthodox, but I think this time it is one that I support in the sense that we have so many other coaches that have all the different levels of coaching in the world but haven’t got the requisite skills to motivate players in order for them to perform well consistently,” Powell stated.
Sammy, who captained the West Indies T20 team to two World Cup victories in 2012 and 2016, retired from international cricket back in 2017 and has had coaching stints in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with the St Lucia Kings and in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with Peshawar Zalmi. Powell added that Sammy has in the past done well when appointed to leadership positions.
“When he (Daren Sammy) got the captaincy of the West Indies team, we all thought that he had gotten a role that he couldn’t manage, but he motivated and inspired players who were even older than him. So I think Sammy is the perfect person to work with these guys and lift them,” Powell said.
Barry Wilkinson, host of the Line and Length cricket show and a veteran cricket analyst based in Barbados, stated that despite Sammy being a former cricketer with loads of ‘know-how,’ he wasn’t sure the former captain has the requisite tools to fill the role.
“Daren Sammy has obviously done a reasonable job with his team in Pakistan (Peshawar Zalmi) and also St Lucia (Kings), along with being a highly reputable captain that has won two T20 World Cups, so there is definitely the knowledge there. Having said that, I’m not sure that he has the requisite coaching experience to fill such a big role,” he stated.
Wilkinson further stated that he believed that the move from the West Indies to appoint Sammy as white ball coach is a move somewhat similar to what England has done with their appointment of New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum.
“I believe that Cricket West Indies at this particular stage are desperately looking for someone of a different calibre rather than someone that has all the requisite coaching experience. We’ve seen what McCullum can do and what he’s done for England, and I think that’s the role that they’re hoping that Sammy can fill,” he added.