West Indies coach Daren Sammy ahead of the 5th T20 International between the West Indies and England at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium on Nov. 17, 2024 in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia.
Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Amid calls for West Indies Batting Coach Floyd Reifer to be replaced, Head Coach Daren Sammy has expressed his full support behind Reifer, saying that he still believes he is the right man for the job.
The 53-year-old Barbadian, Reifer, has held a continuous role as an assistant coach for the West Indies since 2023, but his job has come under intense scrutiny recently following the regional team’s batters’ failure to consistently score runs.
This issue came to the forefront when the West Indies were dismissed for just 27 runs by Australia in the third and final Test in July. This was the second-lowest total in Test history.
That performance led to Cricket West Indies (CWI) holding an emergency meeting to discuss the future of West Indies cricket.
During a virtual press conference hosted by CWI, Sammy was asked if he still had confidence in Reifer’s ability as the team’s batting coach.
Sammy acknowledged the team’s batting inconsistency but reaffirmed his confidence in Reifer’s coaching ability.
“I have seen Floyd Reifer work tirelessly every single day at training. The effort he puts, the attention he puts to detail to try to get our guys ready.”
“He has had little days of joy, just like me. His days of joy as a batting coach have been few and far between, but we understand our jobs as coaches. It’s a performance-driven job that we rely heavily on player performance and even when player performance comes, it’s not really attributed to the work of the coaches,” Sammy said.
“I see a man that is dedicated, preparing guys every single day.”
He continued, “I saw Floyd work with Rutherford endlessly, and Keacy Carty, and started working on areas pertaining to their roles and how they wanted to play.”
“And what I saw from Carty and what I saw from Rutherford during that year 2024, when Rutherford made the ODI Team of the Year, and I never heard not one time the work that Floyd did with those players,” Sammy maintained.
“Every single member of my staff takes their job very seriously and puts in the work. We do understand that even though we put in the work, it takes our guys to go out and execute. And when for us we watch games like this tour in New Zealand and see that every single game we’ve been in a position to win and when those last moments in the game where we have to make critical decisions under pressure, we falter.”
Sammy concluded by affirming his trust in Reifer and all staff, emphasizing their ongoing commitment to support player success.
