ST JOHN’S (Antigua): The West Indies sacked controversial coach Richard Pybus amid a flurry of changes announced on Thursday, only seven weeks before the start of the World Cup.

Floyd Reifer will become interim head coach, with Robert Haynes replacing Courtney Browne as interim head of selectors, while the entire selection panel has also been changed.

“We are confident that in Mr Haynes we have found an interim chairman who shares the philosophy of inclusiveness and shares our selection policy,” Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Ricky Skerritt said. “Floyd has lived the same principles of West Indian excellence that we now insist must prevail in our cricket. Up to the end of 2018 Floyd had been identified as the outstanding emerging local coach.

The West Indies had seen an upturn in fortunes on the pitch in recent months, with a shock 2-1 Test series win over England and 2-2 One-day International series draw.

They open their World Cup campaign against Pakistan at Trent Bridge on May 31 — the second day of the tournament in England and Wales.

The appointment of Englishman Pybus, who replaced Australian Stuart Law in January and had also coached Pakistan and Bangladesh in the past, had been met with criticism, including from former captain Darren Sammy, who blamed him for causing the West Indies squad to strike on the 2016 India tour while the director of cricket.

“Moses led God’s children out of Egypt and a 40days journey took them 40years because of stubbornness. The 2019 worldcup will be 40years since WI won,” tweeted Sammy in January.

The change of coach could potentially pave the way for star players to return to the team, with the likes of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard playing almost exclusively franchise Twenty20 cricket, with Andre Russell also having not played an ODI since last July.

Pybus’ contract ran beyond the World Cup, but Skerritt said changes were necessary and a ‘calculated strategic move’ to reignite the passion for cricket in the region.

Barbados-born Reifer played six Tests, eight One-day Internationals and one Twenty20 for West Indies between 1997 and 2009 before moving into coaching.

“He displayed this by leading the West Indies ‘A’ team successfully, including victories against the England Lions, and ended the past year by coaching the Senior men’s team to a T20 series win in Bangladesh,” Skerritt added.

As part of the old selection policy, availability for domestic tournaments was a requirement to be picked for West Indies squads, but Skerritt said selectors would be allowed to pick all players who make themselves available.

“I am therefore pleased to confirm that we have terminated the old embedded selection policy which secretly, but actively, victimised some players and banished them from selection consideration.”

Contractual disputes between players and CWI have weakened the team for several years, but Thursday’s announcement could pave the way for players such as Kieron Pollard to return to the ODI fold for the first time since 2016.

“Participating in a World Cup is a career defining experience for West Indian players and coaching staff,” Skerritt said. “We therefore believe it is strategically more beneficial for a West Indian coach with the proven skill sets to have this exposure at CWI’s expense — rather than a foreign coach.”

Skerritt replaced former CWI president Dave Cameron last month after beating him in an election.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2019