King to stay put as Windies coach

The committee appointed by the West Indies Cricket Board to review the tenure of Bennett King, the West Indies coach, and his staff has been unable to determine whether the Board are getting value for money. However, they have recommended that King and his men stay put.

The WICB issued a media release on the report submitted on February 15 by the committee headed by Jackie Hendriks and including the WICB directors Deryck Murray and Enoch Lewis were the other members.

The evaluation of King, David Moore, the assistant coach, Stephen Partridge, the physiotherapist, and Bryce Cavanaugh, the trainer, had been prompted by a request by Chetram Singh, the Guyana Cricket Board president and WICB director, for the Board to determine whether King and his colleagues were worth the collective sum of US$1m they are reportedly receiving. Since his tenure began, King, who has been given full responsibility for the team, has presided over just one Test victory in 12 matches, the latest defeat being Monday's 27-run loss against New Zealand in Auckland.

However, in the release, the WICB said: "The Hendriks Committee noted that there was not sufficient evidence to work with in determining whether the investment in the coaching staff had paid dividends and suggested that the coaching staff be given more opportunity before a further evaluation is made."

Specifically, the Hendriks committee had been asked to:

1. Review the conditions of employment which relate to the imported coaching staff and to evaluate the results which have been achieved to date and

2. To advise whether, in the view of the committee, the results achieved have justified the investment.

However, while failing to come to a firm conclusion on the success of King and his men, the committee commended "the obvious commitment of the coaching staff toward moving West Indies cricket forward". The committee noted further that " King and his support team appear to be keen and resolute in their determination to ensure that the West Indies team shows a marked improvement in both one-day and Test matches, and they realise that their future employment with the WICB depends very largely on an improvement of the team's performances over the next 18 months." It also concluded that strides had been made in fitness and technical areas.

The committee also said King was "in complete charge of the West Indies team in accordance with his mandate and the results achieved by the team must be taken as an indication of the effectiveness of his tenure to date". "However, off-the-field issues over which the head coach had no control have led to a negative view of his performance, including the lack of funds available for him to carry out certain of his plans and, too, the very unsettling industrial impasse that has existed before and during recent home and away series. The delay in implementing retainer contracts for players was also a cause for great concern by the head coach in working on achieving the goals and objectives set by the coaching staff."

The committee also found there was a need for several changes to be made in the running of regional cricket. These changes included the structure of West Indies first-class cricket, which they said needed to undergo considerable change so as to maximise its effectiveness; the need to adopt and implement the Regional Cricket Development Plan; the reintroduction of a central cricket academy with a vastly improved structure, and the establishment of satellite academies within the territories which would greatly enhance the effectiveness of the central academy; the need for a process and a system to be put in place to raise the standards throughout the region; and the need to appoint a West Indian understudy to the head coach to provide for succession planning.

In addition, the committee urged that a consistent and uniform coaching policy throughout the region be established and that leadership training continued to be pursued.