Muirhead: Simmons would have made little difference

The West Indies crashed to a 3-0 whitewash in the ODI series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates yesterday, going under by 136 runs in the third and final match.

Prior to the series, the world champions were swept aside shockingly 0-3 in the Twenty20s.

The WICB fired coach Simmons on the day the regional side were set to leave for Dubai but Muirhead believes the axing of the respected Trinidadian cannot be blamed for the poor showing by the regional team.

Muirhead said, “I honestly don’t think Simmons’ sacking is affecting the team. Can any single person affect the performance of a team? I heard (former West Indies pacer) Andy Roberts say that in their time they didn’t even have a coach.” Muirhead stressed that the West Indies players are all professionals and should be technically sound at this level to put up a better showing.

In the three ODIs, the Windies have been abysmal with the bat, posting scores of 175 all out, 278 for seven and 172 all out. In the T20 series, the regional side, captained by Carlos Brathwaite fared little better with scores of 115 all out, 144 for nine and 103 for five.

Muirhead believes at this stage of their careers, players don’t need a coach to show them how to bat.

“I don’t think the coach has an effect at this level,” he declared.

Muirhead said although Pakistan are a competitive team, he is bemused as to why the West Indies are performing so badly.

“I am disappointed more than anything else. Pakistan is a reasonable side but I don’t know what is happening,” the WICB CEO concluded.

Simmons was fired last month after being the West Indies coach for 18 months as the WICB stated there were irreconcilable “differences in culture and strategic approach”. Simmons had clashed with the Board repeatedly during his tenure including claims of outside interference in the selection of the team which the WICB Executive denied. He also advocated for selecting the best team for various formats which was at loggerheads with the policy of Director of Cricket Richard Pybus who insisted that players must compete in regional competitions to be eligible for that format internationally.

In the current Pakistan series, the team is being led by West Indies manager Joel Garner and assistant coaches Henderson Springer and Roddy Estwick. Muirhead said the WICB is working on finding a permanent replacement for Simmons.

Simmons’ removal is just one of many changes in West Indies cricket over the last year. Clive Lloyd was removed as chairman of selectors, while Courtney Walsh (former West Indies selector) accepted a job as the Bangladesh bowling coach recently. Sir Curtly Ambrose was replaced by Roddy Estwick as West Indies bowling coach and Darren Sammy was replaced by Carlos Brathwaite as West Indies T20 captain.

West Indies will aim to bounce back when they face Pakistan in a three-match Test series starting on October 13.