Otis Gibson confirmed as West Indies coach

Otis Gibson has been confirmed as the new coach of the West Indies and will take over in time for the visit of Zimbabwe later this month.

The current interim coach, David Williams will remain in charge for the One Day series in Australia before becoming Gibson’s assistant. The Australian stressed that Gibsion’s appointment was “a long term project. We are not asking Otis to turn around the West Indies fortunes and make them a winning team overnight. There has to be a general chain of development,” he said.

Gibsion, who played in two tests and 15 one day internationals for the West Indies, has been England’s bowling coach since 2007 and has been a key part of Andy Flower’s coaching team.

The former fast bowler was also a key part of the 2007 Durham side which picked up two trophies and played an important role in mentoring the likes of Graham Onions and Liam Plunkett.

Gibson, who also represented Glamorgan and Leicestershire, will face one of the most difficult challenges in the game as he attempts to resurrect a West Indies team in sharp decline for much of the last fifteen years.

After the visit of Zimbabwe, the West Indies welcomes the world for the third edition of the Twenty20 World championships in April and May before a challenging home series with South Africa.

England meanwhile have drawn up a shortlist for replacing the Gibson before a two match T20 series with Pakistan in Abu Dhabi later this month.