Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Friday said it is standing by its decision to appoint Englishman, Richard Pybus, interim Head Coach of the Windies Men’s team.
Following a meeting of the Board of Directors on Thursday, January 17, the organisation affirmed that the appointment of Pybus was made with the support of more than two-thirds of its board to ensure the team had strong leadership ahead of the busy cricket season this year.
“Pybus, who was the architect of the West Indies trifecta of 2016 World Cup titles (World T20, Women’s World T20 and Under-19 World Cup) while serving as Windies cricket director, leads the technical team for the upcoming visit of England, the Triangular Series in Ireland, the 2019 Cricket World Cup (CWC), and the visit of India in July and August,” CWI said.
It added, “During this interim period, Pybus’ tour of duty in the demanding months ahead will be supported by a technical team, which includes some of the game’s leading experts from within the region and around the globe. CWI advised that the decision to appoint the coach had been further reviewed and approved by the Corporate Governance, and Audit Risk and Compliance Committees.”
CWI has come under fire for the appointment of Pybus, with the Leeward Islands Director on the Board, Enoch Lewis, openly expressing his displeasure with the move. He accused CWI President Dave Cameron, of “hand-picking” the Englishman and ignoring the best practices of “transparency, fairness and due process.”
CWI said: “Recent public charges levelled at the sporting body by an objecting board director have now been referred to the governing body’s Ethics Committee for review.”
