BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Gus Logie acknowledged that to say he has no aspirations to coach West Indies team again may be talking himself out of the job.
But the former Trinidad & Tobago captain and West Indies batsman, now Jamaica coach, is happy to help develop the skills of players around the Caribbean wherever he can.“I will be happy to work in any territory that sees the need to have some expert help,” said Logie in a television interview during the Consolation Final between Jamaica and Windward Islands in the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship.
The 50-year-old Logie became the new Jamaica coach last December 1. He replaced Junior Bennett in the position in a shake-up that followed recommendations from national technical director Jimmy Adams to the Jamaica Cricket Association.
“It’s a unique situation for me to be coaching Jamaica, but I am a true Caribbean man,” said Logie, also a former coach of the Canada and Bermuda national teams.
“I have represented West Indies at every level and coached West Indies at every level, so I see my role as a continuation of spreading the gospel of the game throughout the Caribbean.”
Purposeful bowling followed solid batting led Jamaica to a third place finish in the CT20, following a 10-run victory over Windwards Islands on Sunday. It was an improvement for Jamaica over last year’s competition, when they finished fourth, following a defeat to Trinidad & Tobago in the same match. But it still does not fully justify the upheaval that took place in the management of the national side for this competition, which saw Logie taking over from the hardworking Junior Bennett as coach, and Wavell Hinds given the captaincy ahead of successful first-class captain Tamar Lambert.
“I understand the emotions that will be involved in my role in the team,” he said. “But when the opportunity to coach Jamaica arose, I said, why not! “It’s an opportunity to share my coaching skills with the players, so I didn’t think twice about doing it, but I saw it in light of helping West Indies cricket in some form or fashion.” Logie has endorsed the idea of free movement of playing and coaching skills around the region in order to help the game develop even quicker. “I think the rivalry is fine, but if you really want to improve West Indies cricket, I think we need to encourage players to move from one territory to another territory,” he said. “At the end of the day you want the best playing against the best. If the players play against the best, more often than not they will improve.”
He said: “I think the rivalry has its place, but I think we have all have to see the bigger picture. Knowledge is not something that can be kept in one particular territory, it has to be shared around.
“I am talking only from my own situation, but from most situations. In the past, we had Rohan Kanhai coaching in Jamaica, we had Wes Hall in Trinidad, and the late Sir Clyde Walcott in Guyana, and this helped to make our cricket stronger. If this is what it takes, so be it.”
Logie concluded that there was plenty talent in the region, but it had to be nurtured, encouraged, and taught discipline.