Phil Simmons: 'Coaching in 400 internationals means I have done something right'
The veteran looks back at his 20 years working as a cricket coach across the world - with teams including West Indies, Ireland, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and now Bangladesh

Phil Simmons: "The head coach's role has developed into more of a man manager" • Ashley Allen/Getty Images
As far as cricket is concerned, I am not a numbers man. I can say that reaching 400 matches was a surprise. It wasn't something that was in my mind when I started coaching. It is great to have reached the milestone. It means I have done something right.
My hunger is determined by the ability of seeing improvement. It is a team in transition. They need some sort of stability and guidance, but also there's a chance of improvement and success. It is my motivation. A chance to get success and improve people.
It was an unbelievable campaign in the way we played the cricket. We had a bit of luck at times. Lendl Simmons being out and not out on a few occasions at the Wankhede [Lendl Simmons was twice caught off no-balls in the 2016 T20 World Cup semi-final against India] was one of them. The campaign was exciting throughout. We played really good cricket. We deserved to be winners at the end of the day. It was definitely the highest point I have reached in my coaching career.
I took up coaching because I enjoyed helping my team-mates while I was playing. We looked after one another. We would try to help out in the nets. When I finished, I was encouraged by Tim Boon at Leicester to do my coaching courses. He saw something in me. After that [the role at] Zimbabwe came up, first with the academy and then the national team. I was trying to understand what coaching at that level was about, especially trying to help players who have not been at the highest level. The initial days were all about learning, and then it got better and better.
Ireland was the best experience I had as a coach. It was wonderful working with their CEO, Warren Deutrom. Being able to put a vision in front of the players and then working with them towards that vision, it was an exciting time. It helped me get my coaching to the next level. The players were enthusiastic about learning, moving forward and getting better. They wanted to win against big countries who never gave them the time of day. Ireland weren't competitive enough, so it was about getting competitive and winning against big countries.
I think when you coach West Indies, there's a lot more emotions involved. It is a little bit harder to separate the emotion when you work for your own country. You want everything to go right immediately. The emotion is what makes it harder to control.
They know everything. They know about T20 cricket. As a coach, your job is to get everyone to understand the direction the team needs to go in. They play a lot, but they play for different franchises. It is about how you get everybody to understand that right now we are in this competition, and we need to play for one another in this competition. Next week or two weeks later, you are playing against each other.
I am extremely proud watching them in the two World Cups. I was a little bit surprised at how they played in the 50-over World Cup, where they played exceptionally well. Then in this last T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean, they showed what they can do. Every year someone new comes out of there to be the new superstar. It is an exciting time for them. I am proud of how they keep going forward.
There's ups and downs in everything you do in life. How you get out from the downs has been one of my strengths. If you don't do well in one tournament, it means you have done something wrong. You look forward to what you can change and what you can do right in the next tournament. I think we were way under par in the qualifiers for the World Cup. We didn't deserve to be at the main draw. It is not hard for you to bounce back from that, because if you did everything right, you wouldn't have missed out.
That's a very good question. I think there's a lot to coaching international teams. That's the high of everything, particularly Test cricket. I think when you look at World Cups, they bring joy to the countries. Franchises bring joy to your supporters. It is still a big thing to coach international teams. A lot of coaches still think that way. Not everyone can do a franchise job, which is to get people to get better quickly. Whereas, you have a bit of time to put together at the international level.
You have to get the team to play together. Get the team to understand that we brought them here for different roles. When we put you in the team, we want you to play for us. Getting them in a short of period of time to understand that and make sure we are all going down the same road. At the end of the day, it doesn't come together every time. Sometimes it comes together, and it is brilliant. Sometimes it doesn't, you know.
I think it has changed a lot. When I started, I think I had one other coach with me in Zimbabwe and Ireland. I had to do a lot of the work. Now the head coach's role has developed into more of a man manager and making sure you manage the players and coaching staff to give the team what it needs.
There are quite a few. When I first started, I spoke to John Buchanan and Bob Woolmer, God rest his soul. I would call them to ask about coaching in those early days. It is difficult [to answer] now, because you have so many different coaches out there. It is hard to judge coaches these days. You create success as a coach. You have to do different things for different teams. All coaches are good coaches, depending on how you get your team to perform.
It is a sense of fulfillment towards a sport that has made me who I am.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84