As Andre Coley’s nearly two-year stint as West Indies Test coach approaches an end, he says a major regret is that he was unable to collaborate more with white-ball Head Coach Daren Sammy and the regional board’s Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced on Monday that Coley, who was appointed Test team head coach in 2023, is set to guide the side for the last time on the two-match tour of Pakistan in January 2025.

Sammy, the former two-time Twenty20 (T20) World Cup winning captain, is to take over the red-ball team ahead of the three-Test home series against Australia in mid-2025.

Against the backdrop of the view in some quarters that Sammy is more likely to influence the region’s more talented cricketers to play the red-ball format, Coley suggested that at times he felt his hands were tied.

“The players will tell you that I have engaged a lot of them… around their interest in playing red-ball cricket. And I think the challenge has always been around how do we set that up around international engagements and West Indies ODI (One-Day International) and T20 commitments,” Coley told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

“I’ve had conversations with players informally over the last 12 months or more… and I’ve also communicated formally and the director of cricket would be aware of this.

“One of my biggest disappointments has been the fact that I don’t believe that myself, Miles and Daren have been able to, as a trio, work well together to shape that dynamic. I really thought that if the trio was working together a lot closer, more in tandem… we could’ve been more powerful.

“We needed to have worked closer together to effectively manage selection of players across formats regarding fitness, who is available when, et cetera,” the 50-year-old coach reasoned.

While some cricketing nations have split coaching roles, the recent CWI decision is not unique.

In September, England announced that Brendon McCullum, who has been the head coach of their Test team since 2022, is to take over all formats starting January 2025.

Coley said he can see benefits from the West Indies having one head coach across formats.

“Maybe the fact that you have one coach now will probably improve that dynamic because the same coach would know what’s happening in all formats. So, potentially that could be a good thing.

“I am hoping that going forward that Daren will be given the support and resources that he needs — and anybody else around the team needs — to be able to keep things moving forward,” he explained.

“I would like to think that I would’ve contributed in some way or form in terms of initiating communication around that. Most people would not have known that was happening for the better part of two years… trying to find the best windows for players to be involved while at the same time, giving the current players that you have in the Test team, attention,” he said.

Under Coley’s guidance, an inexperienced West Indies team pulled off a stunning 1-1 result away to heavyweights Australia at the start of the year.

But series defeats to India, England and South Africa, and the recent disappointing 1-1 result against visiting Bangladesh mounted pressure on the former Jamaica wicketkeeper.

Sammy, the 40-year-old former all-rounder from St Lucia, was captain of the West Indies in all formats. He has coached the T20 team to 20 victories in 38 matches since he took charge a year and a half ago. The ODI side has won 15 of 28 matches in that time.

This month, Sammy guided the ODI team to a commanding 3-0 victory over Bangladesh, but the visiting team returned the favour in the T20 format, sweeping the West Indies by the same scoreline.

Coley said he has laid the groundwork for his Test team successor.

“I am at the end of my tenure and Daren is going to assume more responsibility and I do wish him all the best in the role with the additional responsibility.

“There have been some bright sparks and some consistencies in a number of different areas, [though] maybe not all at the same time climaxing in consistent wins. But I believe that I am leaving the team in a place where there are more than enough resources there now that if they continue to be channelled in the right way they can emerge and develop into a winning side,” he told the Observer, while he emphasised the supporting role of his wife, family and friends, during his time as head coach.

— Sanjay Myers