Former West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree has been forced to turn down an offer to coach the Windwards Volcanoes for the upcoming CWI Professional League (PCL).
Badree went through the screening process and had two interviews with the Windward Islands Cricket Board of Control (WICBC), who were impressed with the Barrackpore man. However, he had to turn down the offer due to work commitments as a curriculum officer with the Ministry of Education.
Speaking to Guardian Media, Badree said: “Very honoured and humbled to have been given the opportunity to be the Head Coach of the Windward Islands Volcanoes, a team that has a lot of talent and potential. Unfortunately, due to work commitments with the Ministry of Education, I couldn’t accept at this time as I would have to be based in Grenada.”
Badree poured praises on the WICBC for the process they opted for in choosing a head coach.
“I am really pleased with the process established by the Windward Islands in their quest for a head coach, namely an open advertisement and a thorough interview. This has certainly never happened in T&T and it is something that the powers at be must look into.”
Badree, who had coaching stints in Australia with their much-touted High-performance Academy, has progressed nicely in the field and also gained the attention of other countries. He was recently the spin-bowling coach for the Delhi team at the India Premier League, becoming the first and only West Indian to coach in the cash-rich league. The right-armer has also done extensive work with top local team PowerGen, who campaigns in the top flight of domestic cricket.
He added: “I want to take this opportunity to wish the Volcanoes all the best in their campaign and also urge Cricket West Indies (CWI) to implement a similar model of selection of all positions in all franchises throughout the region so that we can have the best and most appropriate personnel in key positions. Anything other than that is just unacceptable if we really want to see meaningful change in West Indies Cricket.”