West Indies cricket will not lose head coach Ottis Gibson. That is the final word and puts to rest all the speculation that he will leave the regional job for one with Warwickshire in England.
The Independent newspaper's online edition reported over the weekend that Gibson would be coming to England to take up the position. The publication claimed a source close to the Barbadian revealed that he was making the move back to England.
The 43-year-old spent two and a half years as England bowling coach–after playing for Durham, Leicestershire and Glamorgan–leaving in February 2010 to lead the country he represented in two Tests and 15 ODIs. He won last year's World T20 and has brought some stability to West Indian cricket. The report went on to state that Gibson was chosen ahead of the former New Zealand coach Andy Moles, the ECB's performance director, David Parsons, and Warwickshire stalwarts Dougie Brown and Graeme Welch for the top job.
However, last weekend Gibson was spotted in St Lucia and the T&T Guardian understands that he met with the WICB and they were successful in getting him to stay. According to the source: "Gibson met with the WICB directors who at the time were having a board meeting in St Lucia. He outlined his position to them and they took into consideration that he has met the targets they have set him and hence, they were able to re-negotiate with him to keep him in the post."
Meanwhile, Gibson will leave with the rest of the West Indies players today for Australia where they will play five One-day internationals against that country. The squad arrives in Australia on Saturday.
AUSTRALIA TOUR
FULL SQUAD: Darren Sammy (captain), Dwayne Bravo (vice captain), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Narsingh Deonarine, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Devon Thomas.
TEAM MANAGEMENT: Ottis Gibson (head coach), Richie Richardson (team manager), Toby Radford (assistant coach), C.J. Clark (physiotherapist), Hector Martinez Charles (strength & conditioning coach), Richard Berridge (video & statistical analyst), Philip Spooner (media manager) and Courtney Browne (selector).