Ottis Gibson Signs New West Indies Contract

Ottis Gibson Signs New West Indies Contract

Ottis Gibson has signed a new contract to continue as head coach until 2016

©REUTERS / Action Images

West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson has signed a new three-year contract which keeps him in his current job until 2016.

Gibson took over as coach in January 2010, and under his control, the West Indies have shown steady improvement, highlighted by success at the ICC World Twenty20 in 2012.

Media speculation had linked Gibson with the head coach job at Warwickshire following Ashley Giles' departure to work with England, but after Dougie Brown got the job at Edgbaston, the former Durham, Glamorgan and Leicestershire man says he is happy to stay with the West Indies and continue guiding their development.

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"I enjoy being involved in West Indies cricket and it is something I’m very excited about considering what we have achieved – especially in the last year – beating New Zealand at home in all three formats and winning the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka," he said.

"This confirms that we are making progress and I am happy to continue with the team for the next three years as we look to take West Indies cricket forward.

"There is a lot to do and things to look forward to. There is the Champions Trophy in England this year, we will be defending the World T20 title in Bangladesh next year and there is the World Cup in 2015. These are things we have talked about and these are things the selectors have been planning for."

Gibson played two Tests for the West Indies and was a member of their 1996 World Cup squad and prior to taking over as head coach, he worked with England as a bowling coach from 2007.

"Ottis has added significant value to the development of the West Indies Team during his tenure and we are delighted to have secured his services for another three years," WICB Chief Executive Officer Michael Muirhead added.

"Most notably is that he led the implementation of a system of professionalism within the team unit and curbed the negative results which we were experiencing with some frequency. There have also been clear successes under his stewardship from 2010 to date.

"These include, most notably, having coached the team to the World Twenty20 title, the team showing consistent improvements in the other formats, the reintegration of players into the team unit and the achievement of the set goals as outlined in the WICB Strategic Plan 2011 – 2016.

"While there have also been some challenges along the way, these are not to be unexpected in such a dynamic and high pressure environment and the WICB looks forward to the continued development of the West Indies team through this next critical phase under Ottis’ stewardship at the elite team level."

© Cricket World 2013