Bennett King 'one of the worst coaches', says Sarwan

West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan has called Bennett King, the former national team coach, "one of the worst coaches" he has ever had and alleged that he was abusive to players. This disclosure, reported in the Jamaica Observer, comes a day after his criticism, in another paper, of the West Indies' team management during the side's tour of Pakistan last year.

"The coach was not as open as I would have liked and he was definitely not firm enough," Sarwan was quoted as saying in the Observer. "He was also very aggressive and vocally abusive to certain players to the point where he even threatened them. Obviously, this made those players very uncomfortable."

King resigned as the West Indies coach in April following their exit from the World Cup.

The Observer, quoting the Caribbean Media Corporation, said Sarwan had called Julian Hunte, the new board president, to congratulate him on his appointment. "We had a very good conversation and he's looking forward to us getting together," Sarwan said. "It's vital that the board and the players get on the same page and I am very encouraged that Mr Hunte has asked West Indies Players' Association [WIPA] president Dinanath Ramnarine to become a non-member director. That's a step in the right direction and it shows a commitment on the part of the board to work closely with the WIPA."

Sarwan also said West Indies' preparation ahead of the World Cup had been poor and felt it was important the squad got together before an international tour for a 10-12 day camp in Trinidad & Tobago or Barbados, which, in his opinion, had the best practice facilities in the region.

He said it was also important for the team to get a coach, manager and trainer in place for the long term. David Moore, the current coach, is expected to coach the side till the Twenty20 World Championship, after which the board must decide if they want to retain him or pick a new coach.

Regarding his form as a batsman, Sarwan felt he had robbed himself of close to 1500 runs in the past three years. "I recently spoke to Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who told me that I should concentrate on my batting when I am at the crease," Sarwan said. "He said he does not think about his role as captain when he's batting. That made sense to me because if you make runs, everything else will fall into place and make your job as captain that much easier."