Windies part company with head coach Simmons

Phil Simmons’ tenure as head coach of West Indies has come to an end just five months after he guided his country to the World Twenty20 title.

The former Windies batsman was appointed on a three-year deal in March last year, but was suspended six months later after expressing his displeasure with the one-day international squad selected for the tour of Sri Lanka.

Simmons was reinstated in November and oversaw a dramatic World T20 triumph, the team’ second, in India in April.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on Tuesday revealed the 53-year-old’s reign is over with immediate effect due to “differences in culture and strategic approach”.

“Effectively immediately, the WICB today announced it has separated from the head coach Phil Simmons,” said a WICB statement.

“In a meeting of the Board of Directors, on Saturday, September 10, this decision was taken.

“In recent times, based on the public pronouncements of the coach and the approach internally, we have identified differences in culture and strategic approach. The WICB would therefore like to thank the coach for his contribution and wishes him the best in his future endeavours.

“The senior team is preparing for its upcoming assignments against Pakistan in the UAE. The team will be headed by manager Joel Garner, coaches Henderson Springer and Roddy Estwick.”

That announcement came just a week before the first game of West Indies’ tour of the United Arab Emirates to take on Pakistan.

While the Windies have had success in white-ball cricket, they are down in eighth place in the Test rankings after losing their last four series’ without winning a match, their last victory in the longest format coming against England in May last year.