ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Legendary fast bowler, Courtney Walsh has been appointed head coach of West Indies Women, just 24 hours after they suffered a chastening 5-0 whitewash at the hands of England.
The 57-year-old, a former Bangladesh bowling coach, served as assistant coach for West Indies Women during their Twenty20 World Cup campaign in Australia earlier this year but did not feature as part of the management staff on the recent England tour.
Walsh said he expected a smooth transition especially since he had worked with the Caribbean side in the recent past.
“This is indeed an honour to be named as the new head coach. It’s an exciting challenge and I’ve always wanted to give back in any way I can and help with the development of the game in the West Indies,” Walsh said yesterday.
“The experience I have, my knowledge of the game, and my overall organisational skills will be key aspects as we try to develop a winning team culture.
“I worked with the team at the Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year in Australia and in the series against India in the Caribbean last year, so I have a very good understanding of what is required.
“The ability and the talent are there, we have some fantastic players in the West Indies, and it will be my duty and focus to help the women to develop their talents and achieve the goals we are going to be setting together.”
Walsh replaces Jamaican Andre Coley who presided over the recent five-match Twenty20 International series against England.Former West Indies batsman and men’s head coach, Gus Logie, was appointed interim head coach last October and led the Stafanie Taylor-captained unit to the T20 World Cup.
Cricket West Indies’ director of cricket, Jimmy Adams, backed Walsh – a former Jamaica and West Indies teammate – to add value to the women’s programme.
“I am delighted to have Courtney leading our international women’s programme having successfully come through CWI’s recruitment process,” said Adams.
“He will be overseeing the programme initially until the end of the next two ICC Women’s World Cups in 2022 and he will be pivotal in working with CWI’s High Performance Team to move our whole women’s programme forward, as part of our wider strategic plan which has Women’s cricket as a key priority.”
Walsh, the leading wicket-taker in Tests for West Indies with 519 wickets from 132 matches, is also a former senior team selector and Under-19 manager.
However, he takes over a women’s side that has struggled in recent years, despite winning the T20 World Cup in India four years ago.
Wednesday’s defeat to England was their third straight T20 series whitewash, leaving them with 13 defeats in as many recent outings.
Their One-Day International form has also been wretched with just one series win in the last four years and six wins in their last 20 internationals.