FORMER West Indies opener Suruj Ragoonath and former West Indies manager Omar Khan are both supporting the decision by Cricket West Indies to hire St Lucian Daren Sammy as the new West Indies T20 and 50-over (white-ball) coach.

A CWI media release on Friday said, “The new head coaches were selected following an open and transparent interview process and the appointments were confirmed following the CWI board of directors meeting on Thursday.”

Andre Coley was named as the Test team (red-ball) coach. Since former head coach Phil Simmons resigned at the end of 2022, Coley had been the interim West Indies coach across all the formats.

Sammy’s first assignment will be the three-match ODI series against the United Arab Emirates in Sharjah in June, ahead of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 Qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe. Coley’s first job will be the two-match Test series against India in the Caribbean in July.

President of CWI Dr Kishore Shallow said the regional board is confident that Sammy has enough experience to coach the West Indies.

In a media conference on Zoom on Friday, Shallow said, “Daren has been a two-time World Cup champion (and a) captain for Cricket West Indies, and that obviously speaks volumes. We had a comprehensive recruitment process shortlisting candidates from 20 applicants around the globe…He has been on the circuit for white-ball.”

Sammy led West Indies to the ICC T20 World Cup titles in 2012 and 2016. Since retirement, he had been a head coach in the Pakistan Super League and with the St Lucia Kings in the Caribbean Premier League.

“Those (stints as coach), along with his international experience as a player and captain, obviously contributed to him being appointed as the head coach of the white-ball teams,” Shallow said.

Another person who applied for the job was West Indies batting legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul,who coached the Jamaica Tallawahs to the CPL title last year. In 2022, he was appointed head coach of the USA women's and under-19 women's cricket teams.

Although not a level-three certified coach, Shallow said Sammy does not necessarily need those qualifications.

Both West Indies coaches will get the opportunity to recommend who they would like on their support staff.

Ragoonath told Newsday, “I remember in 2021 sending a voice message via WhatsApp to Jimmy Adams, director of cricket, with a suggestion that Daren Sammy be white-ball coach…

"I am pretty excited about it because I saw that Daren Sammy has what it takes to be successful and to impart a lot of knowledge in terms of what is required in the white-ball format. I think a lot of the older coaches today are not as current with what is required for the fast-paced, shorter versions of the game.”

Ragoonath said the region cannot expect Sammy to change the results of West Indies overnight.

Asked whether Sammy has the ability to address some of the technical flaws of West Indies batsmen, Ragoonath said, “I am not concerned about those things simply (because) in today’s international coaching setup you have