West Indies cricket board sacks coach following defeat to Bangladesh

ANTIGUA - The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has axed the national team’s Australian coach John Dyson following the humiliating home Test and one-day series defeats to Bangladesh.

Dyson’s sacking comes less than six weeks before the start of the Champions Trophy in South Africa where assistant coach David Williams will take temporary charge.

“The services of John Dyson have been terminated with immediate effect. The assistant coach David Williams will fill this position on a temporary basis for this tour,’ said a WICB statement.

Dyson, 55, took over as coach in October, 2007, following on from another Australian, Bennett King who stood down after the World Cup.

Before his appointment in the troubled Caribbean, Dyson had been coach of the Sri Lanka team, succeeding Dav Whatmore in 2003 and remained in the job for two years.

He made an impressive start to his career with the West Indies, guiding the team to victory over South Africa at Port Elizabeth - their first overseas win in a Test for seven years.

But success was always a struggle to achieve as more and more players fell out with the WICB over payments with the dispute becoming so entrenched that the first-choice squad refused to play in the series against Bangladesh.

Dyson oversaw a 1-0 Test win over England on home soil this year but his team, looking dispirited and disinterested, were swept aside in the return series in May.

West Indies are poised to take another second-string side to South Africa for the Champions Trophy which begins on September 22.

The WICB added in their statement: ‘In view of the special circumstances pertaining to this tour, the former West Indies vice-captain and off-spin bowler, Lance Gibbs, has been appointed the team manager. Omar Khan, the incumbent manager, has been temporarily assigned to the preparation and management of the West Indies Under-19 team for the ICC’s Youth World Cup in New Zealand in 2010.”

Dyson played 30 Tests for Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, scoring two centuries and averaging 26.64. (ANI)