News

Saker out, Gibson back for West Indies tour

Ottis Gibson has been appointed as England's fast bowling coach for the forthcoming West Indies tour with the chance to push his credentials for the job fulltime ahead of the Ashes series against Australia this summer

David Hopps
David Hopps
26-Mar-2015
Ottis Gibson has been appointed as England's fast-bowling coach for the forthcoming West Indies tour with the chance to push his credentials for the job full time ahead of the Ashes series against Australia this summer.
Gibson fulfilled the role for nearly three years from 2007 before he was appointed as coach of West Indies. He left that job last August by mutual consent after guiding West Indies to a World Twenty20 crown in Sri Lanka but otherwise finding an overwhelming job to regenerate West Indies cricket a growing source of frustration.
His knowledge of West Indian conditions will now be of particular benefit to England as they seek to rally morale ahead of the international summer.
Failures in major competitions normally bring a desire for a fresh start, but England's post-World Cup period has also been flavoured by comebacks. Jonathan Trott has been recalled to England's squad for the first time since leaving the 2013-14 Ashes series with performance anxiety and the most celebrated comeback of all - that of Kevin Pietersen - remains a possibility.
Gibson replaces David Saker, whose job was already in jeopardy before he indicated to the ECB that he intended to leave his post in September to take up a position as coach of the Melbourne Renegades Big Bash franchise - a coaching role with his home state he had long cherished.
Saker was quickly informed that he was not required for next month's three-Test tour of the Caribbean as England took the opportunity to bring Gibson back into the fold.
He was reintroduced to the England set-up on England Lions' recent tour of South Africa and also spent time at the England Performance Programme's four-week training camp for fast bowlers - also in South Africa - before Christmas, working alongside James Anderson and Stuart Broad among others
The departure of Saker means that every senior member of the coaching setup has now departed since the 5-0 Ashes whitewash Down Under 14 months ago.
England's managing director, Paul Downton, said: "We are delighted to have secured a bowling coach of Ottis' calibre as he is highly respected among the fast bowling fraternity and his knowledge and experience of local conditions will be invaluable in the Caribbean.
"We must, however, stress that this is a short-term appointment at this stage. No decision has yet been made on a long-term replacement for David and we will need to review how we staff this position going forward following the conclusion of the West Indies tour. "

David Hopps is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps