Roland Butcher appointed to West Indies selection panel

Roland Butcher, the Barbados-born former England batter, has been appointed to the West Indies men's and junior selection panel. Butcher will join lead selector Desmond Haynes on the men's panel, whose third member is the head coach; West Indies currently have Andre Coley in that position on an interim basis following the resignation of Phil Simmons.

According to a Cricket West Indies release, Butcher's appointment was confirmed during a meeting of the CWI board of directors on December 19.

Butcher, the first black man to play for England, played three Test matches, all on the 1980-81 tour of the West Indies, and three ODIs. After his playing career - 277 first-class games and 271 List A games, the bulk of them for Middlesex - he went into coaching, not just cricket but football too, earning UEFA coaching badges along the way. He was Bermuda's head coach from 2000 to 2001, and in 2004 was appointed director of sports at the University of the West Indies in Barbados.

"It is a great honour and a privilege, to be given the opportunity to serve West Indies Cricket," Butcher said. "I'm eager to get started to work alongside the other members of the selection panels as we look to ensure the growth and improvement in West Indies cricket at all levels."