LONDON, CMC — Axed West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons, could be contemplating legal action against the West Indies Cricket Board over his abrupt firing last week.
Reports in international media said the 53-year-old Trinidadian was expected to meet with his legal team in the coming days to discuss the matter and would then decide on a course of action.
“Phil is currently in the UK and is supposed to meet his lawyers within the next 72 hours,” a confidante of Simmons, who requested anonymity, was quoted as saying.
“His next course of action would be influenced by the advice they give.”
Simmons’ sacking was announced by the WICB last Tuesday as the West Indies team prepared to leave Barbados for Dubai, to begin their Twenty20 and One-Day series against Pakistan.
The move followed weeks of speculation about Simmons’ future and WICB president Dave Cameron had sidestepped the controversial issue following the Board of Directors’ meeting in Dominica last week.
“At the appropriate time [we will speak on the Simmons matter],” Cameron said when asked if Simmons would be fired.
“We have to continue the discussions internally and at the appropriate time we will make any announcements that are deemed necessary.”
In a cryptic release three days later, however, the WICB said it had taken the decision to relieve Simmons of his duties at the Dominica meeting.
“In recent times, based on the public pronouncements of the coach and the approach internally, we have identified differences in culture and strategic approach,” the WICB release said.
Simmons took up the position in March last year after taking Ireland to the Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. He was suspended seven months later over controversial comments regarding team selection for the tour of Sri Lanka but was reinstated following the series, after issuing a public apology.
Simmons oversaw West Indies’ capture of their second Twenty20 World Cup title in India last April and then helped guide them into the final of the Tri-Nations Series in the Caribbean last June.
