Ottis Gibson quits England for Windies role

[WindieWeathers]

Ottis Gibson to quit as England bowling coach to become new head coach of West Indies

Ottis Gibson is to leave his post as England’s bowling coach to become head coach of West Indies.

Details are being ironed out, but he will almost certainly not be going with England on their six-week tour of Dubai and Bangladesh. England will probably now travel without a bowling coach for that trip.

Rumours about Gibson’s imminent appointment have been circulating in the Caribbean but the England and Wales Cricket Board have until now flatly denied all knowledge of Gibson’s leaving.

That departure, so Telegraph Sport understands, is now a formality. England’s players have already been informed.

Gibson, 40, played two Tests and 15 one-day internationals for West Indies and applied for their vacant coach’s job in 2007, but was tempted instead by an offer from England, first as a temporary replacement for Allan Donald on the Sri Lanka tour that year and then on a permanent basis.

Gibson had been employed by the ECB as a coach as long ago as 2004 before resuming his nomadic playing career – he had represented Barbados, Border, Griqualand West, Gauteng and Glamorgan – with Leicestershire and then two great years with Durham before retirement.

He grew into his role with England and was part of a hard-working and tight-knit backroom staff to team director Andy Flower. He was publicly praised by England players for his part in last summer’s Ashes success.

And he achieved success with the seamers in their mastering of reverse swing, producing notable results in England’s victory in Durban, where South Africa were miffed that their bowling coach, Vincent Barnes, had not achieved similar results.

He did not achieve miracles, but Gibson brought much-needed discipline to England’s bowling. In the Ashes, England conceded 31 runs in no-balls, Australia 86.

In practice, he insisted on someone standing as umpire in the nets, whereas Australia didn’t. In his experience bowlers judged the spot from where to deliver partly from the white line, partly from where the umpire stood.

In South Africa, England’s bowling was even more disciplined. They conceded four runs in no-balls during the four-Test series to South Africa’s 32.

Replacements for Gibson are thin on the ground. Kevin Shine, England’s bowling coach for a year in 2006-07, is now the ECB’s lead fast-bowling coach, but can be discounted. There is no other obvious successor within the ECB set-up. Donald might be a possibility again.

Gibson will replace John Dyson, sacked last August. Former wicketkeeper David Williams has been in temporary charge of the West Indies

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I guess it's good that we've got a decent young coach with fresh ideas and his experience in the England set up should serve him well, he seemed to have had a big impact on the England bowlers too, what do people think of this appointment? is it a move in the right direction for the Windies?.

 

[Woodster]

Huge job Gibson's taking on, we all know there is more to coaching West Indies than simply getting things right on the pitch. The off-field politics will inevitably contine to frustrate, but there is no doubt he has some good young quality at his disposal.

The development of Barath, Roach, Tonge, Braithwaite, will be crucial to the future success of WI, and Gibson will inevitably be pivotal to that.

I'm sure he'll be pleased to work with a bowling attack consisting of Edwards, Taylor, Roach, Tonge, Rampaul, Benn etc, where should he get most of them fully fit will prove a threat to most countries.

It comes as no great surprise to me that he has opted to take this opportunity back in his homeland, and in charge of the national head coach position. I wish him well, but feel he may have taken on too much for his first full coaching role.

 

[Richard]

Home is where the heart is, and if his heart's in the Caribbean, no real surprise and fair play to him.

Job well done with England and I certainly hope whoever takes the role on next keeps-up the work he's done. The no-ball solutions might seem small beer but it's amazing what a difference they actually do make. If bowlers can cut-out no-balls it's actually very helpful. Symptomatic too of willingness to do the little things right which will often add-up quickly.

 

[FBU]

I guess Shine will go with the squad to Bangladesh until England find a full time bowling coach.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Thrilled to see someone with proper West Indian (if turbulent, IIRC) roots getting a look-in. A bit harsh on Williams, but I sense he didn't want the gig anyway.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Thrilled to see someone with proper West Indian (if turbulent, IIRC) roots getting a look-in. A bit harsh on Williams, but I sense he didn't want the gig anyway.

Why do you think he didn't want the job? if Ottis does come in then i really hope he clears out the old and average players and focuses on the talented youngsters we've got, no more Rampaul, Sammy, Morton, Dowlin etc because they simply aren't good enough, i'd also leave Chanders and Nash out to be honest, in Deonarine i think we've got a good replacement for Nash in the middle order and it also helps that he's a half decent spinner too, i'd also put Darren Bravo in Shivs place, it's time to unleash his talent on the big stage, and with Ottis being a expert in the bowling department he'll have a good look at all the spinners, so maybe your wish of Benn being replaced might come true .

A side like this would be decent imo

Gayle
Barath
Sarwan
Darren Bravo
Deonarine
Bravo
Ramdin
Taylor
Roach
Holder (if he's ready)
Benn (or any other spinner)

It's also important that he keeps all the talented youngsters around the senior team imo, people like Brathwaite might even be ready right now but do we drop Gayle for him? i don't know, also hopefully Andre Stoll gets a chance with Guyana soon so we can have the left-arm pacer option later this year if he does well.

 

[Flem274*]

Dude you need Chanderpaul and Gayle in the batting.

 

[superkingdave]

Good luck Otis, give Dave a chance

 

[WindieWeathers]

Dude you need Chanderpaul and Gayle in the batting.

Yeah i know Gayle will be in the side but Brathwaite is such a great talent that he's gonna come knocking on the door very soon, and with Gayle's apparent dislike of the longer game maybe Brathwaite will get his chance earlier than expected, as for Chanders, as a Wndies fan i'm fully aware of what a hero he's been for us, but at 35 i think he's seen better days to be honest and it's time to promote Darren Bravo who many believe could be the next Brian Lara.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Fair play to Gibson, I say. He's giving up a secure and well-paid position with a relatively well-off board for a crack at restoring his own nation to their former glories. I'm not privy to any of the inner workings of the WICB, but from the outside it looks the very dictionary definition of a basket case.

He's got a big job on his hands, but strikes one as an impressive and quite determined individual so, as the cliche goes, if anyone can do it...

 

[Woodster]

Why do you think he didn't want the job? if Ottis does come in then i really hope he clears out the old and average players and focuses on the talented youngsters we've got, no more Rampaul, Sammy, Morton, Dowlin etc because they simply aren't good enough, i'd also leave Chanders and Nash out to be honest, in Deonarine i think we've got a good replacement for Nash in the middle order and it also helps that he's a half decent spinner too, i'd also put Darren Bravo in Shivs place, it's time to unleash his talent on the big stage, and with Ottis being a expert in the bowling department he'll have a good look at all the spinners, so maybe your wish of Benn being replaced might come true .

A side like this would be decent imo

Gayle
Barath
Sarwan
Darren Bravo
Deonarine
Bravo
Ramdin
Taylor
Roach
Holder (if he's ready)
Benn (or any other spinner)

It's also important that he keeps all the talented youngsters around the senior team imo, people like Brathwaite might even be ready right now but do we drop Gayle for him? i don't know, also hopefully Andre Stoll gets a chance with Guyana soon so we can have the left-arm pacer option later this year if he does well.

Looks pretty weak from four to seven in the batting line-up. I don't doubt there is talent and potential in Darren Bravo, but him and Deonarine at four and five at this stage I expect would be low on consistency and reliability. I always feel both Bravo and Ramdin are a place high at six and seven respectively.

Think Chanderpaul and Nash are vital to this WI side, the fomer more so. Neither are very attractive to watch, but are both fighters. Some of the innings Nash played in Australia typified the kind of fighters mentality, and every side needs one of those.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Looks pretty weak from four to seven in the batting line-up. I don't doubt there is talent and potential in Darren Bravo, but him and Deonarine at four and five at this stage I expect would be low on consistency and reliability. I always feel both Bravo and Ramdin are a place high at six and seven respectively.

Think Chanderpaul and Nash are vital to this WI side, the fomer more so. Neither are very attractive to watch, but are both fighters. Some of the innings Nash played in Australia typified the kind of fighters mentality, and every side needs one of those.

Well in his second test against the Aussies Deonarine actually around 80 runs from what i remember and his stroke play was very good indeed, he's also been piling up the runs for Guyana in the domestic competition for a while now so i believe he's ready to step in, he's actually very similar to Chanders in the way he plays anyway, as for Darren Bravo, i'm sure you could have said the same thing about Barath before his knock in Australia, the truth is we won't know for sure until he's given a chance, i happen to think he's got the talent to be a little more effective than Nash, Nash has been great but he does tend to slow down the run rate at times which can hurt our chances, i agree about Ramdin but Bravo is hit and miss really, he got himself a 100 in Australia aswell if i remember correctly.

 

[Richard]

as for Darren Bravo, i'm sure you could have said the same thing about Barath before his knock in Australia, the truth is we won't know for sure until he's given a chance

The "why not throw someone in very-probably-prematurely for the sake of it, because you never know it might just work" has to be the worst methodology behind selection, EVER.

 

[WindieWeathers]

The "why not throw someone in very-probably-prematurely for the sake of it, because you never know it might just work" has to be the worst methodology behind selection, EVER.

As i already explained he's not just some ordinary kid off the street the kid has got world class potential (hence the Lara comparisons) and has proven himself at domestic and youth levels just as much as Barath has, he also showed his class in the champions league for Trinidad too.

 

[roseboy64]

That strategy very rarely works though so it's a no.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Why do you think he didn't want the job? if Ottis does come in then i really hope he clears out the old and average players and focuses on the talented youngsters we've got, no more Rampaul, Sammy, Morton, Dowlin etc because they simply aren't good enough, i'd also leave Chanders and Nash out to be honest, in Deonarine i think we've got a good replacement for Nash in the middle order and it also helps that he's a half decent spinner too, i'd also put Darren Bravo in Shivs place, it's time to unleash his talent on the big stage, and with Ottis being a expert in the bowling department he'll have a good look at all the spinners, so maybe your wish of Benn being replaced might come true .

Given the treatment of West Indian coaches from the West Indies, I wouldn't be surprised if, in the back of his mind, Williams didn't feel he bit off more than he could chew by taking the gig. He was always there on an interim basis, and did a lot of things right and nothing that I can think of wrong. Yet he never had job security. It's an inferior complex that the WICB certainly seems to have (with trusting local talent) and I expect it could well have filtered down to Williams and his team. Yes, Gibson is West Indian, but he's also very much an English product. Not saying there's any bad blood between Williams and Gibson, and I'd be surprised if Williams doesn't stay on some capacity. Just saying that I don't think he ever felt entitled to the job. Largely a hunch on my part though.

And Benn will be in the team for a while yet, I expect. Because he always looks like he should be(/and will be) a better bowler than he is(/is likely to be). And hey, he's not a particularly attacking spinner most of the time, so he's right up the selectors' alley. With regards to leaving out Chanders and Nash, I think that's a step too far. You don't blood youth wholesale if you can help it. And West Indies may be poor, but the team isn't that poor that it can afford to do that. There's still enough to lose.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

It's also important that he keeps all the talented youngsters around the senior team imo, people like Brathwaite might even be ready right now but do we drop Gayle for him? i don't know, also hopefully Andre Stoll gets a chance with Guyana soon so we can have the left-arm pacer option later this year if he does well.

I think that's a bit harsh on Gayle given that his most recent efforts in Test cricket have been head and shoulders above everyone else's. In fact, the way he played in the last two Tests last year showed more commitment (perhaps) than anyone else showed all of last year. Give him a chance to slip up at least, because on current form he looks up for the battle, finally. Gayle is a much better batsman now than Braithwaite is, obviously, so why jump the gun? Braithwaite won't be at Gayle's level for a few years yet, I expect.

As for Stoll, no pressure then? You don't pick someone just because of the style of bowling. He has be one of the best bowlers in the region to deserve to be picked. And I'm certain he's not the kind of phenom you think he is, if you think he should be in the reckoning in a year.

As i already explained he's not just some ordinary kid off the street the kid has got world class potential (hence the Lara comparisons) and has proven himself at domestic and youth levels just as much as Barath has, he also showed his class in the champions league for Trinidad too.

Darren Bravo is vastly inferior to both Nash and Chanderpaul at the moment. And like Braithwaite for Gayle, it would be suicidal to throw him into the team at the expense of experience and reliability. You seem to forget that Lara was in the West Indies squad for a year or two before he debuted. For all his talent he was not just thrown in on a punt.

 

[WindieWeathers]

I think that's a bit harsh on Gayle given that his most recent efforts in Test cricket have been head and shoulders above everyone else's. In fact, the way he played in the last two Tests last year showed more commitment (perhaps) than anyone else showed all of last year. Give him a chance to slip up at least, because on current form he looks up for the battle, finally. Gayle is a much better batsman now than Braithwaite is, obviously, so why jump the gun? Braithwaite won't be at Gayle's level for a few years yet, I expect.

As for Stoll, no pressure then? You don't pick someone just because of the style of bowling. He has be one of the best bowlers in the region to deserve to be picked. And I'm certain he's not the kind of phenom you think he is, if you think he should be in the reckoning in a year.

Darren Bravo is vastly inferior to both Nash and Chanderpaul at the moment. And like Braithwaite for Gayle, it would be suicidal to throw him into the team at the expense of experience and reliability. You seem to forget that Lara was in the West Indies squad for a year or two before he debuted. For all his talent he was not just thrown in on a punt.

In regards to Gayle i've already said it's because the guy has already expressed his dislike for the longer form of the game, of course i wouldn't drop him now but in 6 months time who knows what will happen? the guy might turn around and say he's had enough, As for Nash and Chanders, i guess we'll have to agree to disagree because the way i see it Chanders has been off form for ages and even when he's in the side we're losing so why not promote a talented youngster in his place? just how long do you expect the man to go on for? it seems like people are still scared to promote the youth even after Barath's perfermance against the Aussies, and it's funny because i was calling for Barath to be included early last year and i got the same excuses that are being made about Darren Bravo now , i'm just bored of the same old faces and there comes a time when you have to take a risk or two.

 

[Goughy]

In regards to Gayle i've already said it's because the guy has already expressed his dislike for the longer form of the game, of course i wouldn't drop him now but in 6 months time who knows what will happen? the guy might turn around and say he's had enough, As for Nash and Chanders, i guess we'll have to agree to disagree because the way i see it Chanders has been off form for ages and even when he's in the side we're losing so why not promote a talented youngster in his place? just how long do you expect the man to go on for? it seems like people are still scared to promote the youth even after Barath's perfermance against the Aussies, and it's funny because i was calling for Barath to be included early last year and i got the same excuses that are being made about Darren Bravo now , i'm just bored of the same old faces and there comes a time when you have to take a risk or two.

He the guy only averages 60 over the past 2 years, far better than the next guy. Drop him he has been **** for a real long time.

 

[WindieWeathers]

He the guy only averages 60 over the past 2 years, far better than the next guy. Drop him he has been **** for a real long time.

You're only as good as your last game, did you see his performances against the Aussies? i guess not , if he wasn't 35 i might agree with you but the man is past it now IMO.