Logie tipped as Windies coach

TRINIDADIAN Augustine “Gus” Logie is widely expected to be named coach of the West Indies team for the upcoming Test and One-Day International series against the touring Australians and Sri Lankans.

Logie, a former middle-order Test batsman and outstanding fielder is already under contract with the WICB. His most recent assigment was as coach of the Canadian team at the recent World Cup tournament in South Africa. An announcement of the appointment is expected next Monday, the day after the WICB directors meet in Barbados to choose a coach, manager and captain for the upcoming home series against Australia and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile Antigua’s Minister of Sports Guy Yearwood has lashed out at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for considering an application from Bob Woolmer to coach the Caribbean side, describing those moves as “wicked”. “It is wicked that the West Indies Cricket Board would even entertain, let alone consider an application from Bob Woolmer to coach the West Indies cricket team. I have a personal problem with that,” Yearwood said, according to the Antigua Sun newspaper.

Woolmer was interviewed by a WICB selection committee — comprising chief selector Viv Richards, CEO Roger Brathwaithe and Barbados director Stephen Alleyne — during the just-concluded World Cup tournament but later said he was only interested in an advisory role instead of being a fulltime coach. Yearwood said the WICB should instead give the job to former Leewards and West Indies all-rounder Eldine Baptiste, also an Antiguan. Baptiste, who is now coaching the KwaZulu-Natal senior team, is in a shortlist of candidates to get the job.

The Antiguan sports minister called on the WICB to “stop the violence” against local coaches. “What of all our great past players who dominated the game even while Bob Woolmer was a player. Is there no recognition for those amongst us who have excelled? Do you think Brazil would recruit the services of a foreign football coach?” Yearwood declared. “Today, I ask the West Indies Cricket Board to stop the violence against our coaches and empower them to return West Indies cricket to its halcyon years. Let’s give Eldine Baptiste the job,” he added. “He (Baptiste) has the expertise and has worked successfully in England and South Africa. His track record, as a coach, speaks for him and he is fully qualified to do the job,” Yearwood added. Australia’s academy coach Bennett King is also being considered for the job but sources say the long delay in coming to a decision effectively means King was ruled out as a possibility.