By Jawad Hussain
KARACHI, September 25, 2018 (News925.com) – Former Australian Test cricket Stuart Law on Tuesday announced to resign as Head Coach of the West Indies cricket team after spending two years at the job.
Addressing a press conference, the 49-year-old veteran cricket coach said that he has decided to move to England where he will coach the Middlesex county side. The stint at English county side will give Stuart Law the chance to stay close to his family.
The upcoming West Indies tour to India in October and to Bangladesh in November will be Stuart Law’s last assignment with the West Indian cricket team.
Stuart Law was an instrumental figure in the West Indian cricket setup. He was able to ring in improvement in the Test cricket performance of West Indies. He was also a key member of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) plans to bring back the star players like Kieron Pollard and Chris Gayle back into the national fold. Many West Indian cricketers including Darren Sammy, DJ Bravo and many others developed differences with the Cricket West Indies in the past few years. The conflict has negatively affected the overall reputation of the West Indian cricket team in all the three formats of the game.
Despite the exodus, Stuart Law was able to inspire the West Indian cricket team to win qualification into the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup which will be held in England in June.
Stuart Law said in a press release, “I have had to make the difficult decision to leave my role of head coach with the CWI. It has been very enjoyable, and I believe we have made tremendous strides forward as a team during the past two years. I will be taking a role with Middlesex which will keep me close to my family, whilst continuing within the cricket family. I wish the players and staff of CWI every success in the future.”
The former Aussie Test cricketer had joined forces with the West Indian cricket authorities in September 2016 when Phil Simmons was sacked as the West Indies Head Coach on disciplinary charges. During his stay with the West Indies cricket team, Stuart Law took the Calypso side to six victories in 15 Tests, including a historic chase of 322 runs at Headingley, England last year. He also inspired West Indies to series victories over Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe.
Under Stuart Law, West Indies won eight of their 19 Twenty20 International matches, including a victory over World XI at Lord’s, England in May. However, West Indies failed to perform well under Stuart Law in the One Day International cricket where they failed to qualify for the 2018 ICC Champions Trophy in England and had to play a qualification tournament to ensure their presence at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England.
Johnny Grave, Chief Executive at CWI, said, “I am disappointed that Stuart is leaving as I believe that we have made real progress under his leadership. I know it was a difficult decision for him and that ultimately the opportunity to work in England, where his family is now based, was a major factor in his decision. We will start the process to appoint a new head coach immediately.”
Stuart Law has signed a four-year deal with the Middlesex and will stay at the county as their Head Coach for all the three formats.
