Daren Sammy has been appointed as the new coach of the West Indies men’s national cricket team across all formats, marking a significant step in his coaching career.
The former captain, who has been in charge of the West Indies T20I and ODI teams since 2023, will take control of the Test team from April 2025.
This was confirmed by Cricket West Indies (CWI) director of cricket Miles Bascombe during an announcement in St Vincent.
“It is always an honor to represent West Indies in any format or capacity. For me, this news is not something I expected,” Sammy said at the press conference.
“Coaching was never something I saw myself doing, but I must admit that with the way things are going, I have developed a much stronger passion and love for the work. I believe in processes, something we have been able to implement in white ball formats, and with this new role, I have already mapped out some of the areas and processes we will need to follow to be successful (in Test cricket I am a patient man and). Once I trust the process and understand the requirements of the director of cricket, then the plan comes into action.
“Therefore, I am very excited about the additional responsibility and the new journey – which I believe my team and I will be well prepared for.”
The 40-year-old has had a strong showing as coach of the white-ball teams, with notable successes in both ODIs and T20Is.
Under his leadership, West Indies have won 15 of 28 ODIs since May 2023, including four of seven bilateral series. In T20Is, they have won four series at home against India, England and South Africa, although they have lost to Sri Lanka, Australia and England.
Overall, they have secured 20 wins in 35 T20Is during the same period.
However, the Test team’s record under Andre Coley, who has served as head coach since May 2023, has been less impressive.
The West Indies have lost seven Test matches, drawn two and won two, their most notable achievement being an eight-run victory against Australia in Brisbane earlier this year.
Despite this, they have struggled in the World Test Championship (WTC) and remain at the bottom of the points table.
“Following our current World Test Championship campaign, we will expand Mr Sammy’s role to cover all formats,” Bascombe announced. “So when we host Australia next summer, Daren Sammy will be the head coach of all the senior men’s teams. I want to take this opportunity to thank Andre Coley, who served well.
“He has yet to complete his World Test Championship campaign in Pakistan and will have our full support. But again, I want to congratulate Mr Sammy. We have been quite impressed with the way he has charted a course for our white-ball teams and guided them toward consistency of performance, and that’s exactly what we want to see from our testing team.”
His coaching career took off after his playing stint, where his leadership qualities were evident in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
In 2020, he captained the St Lucia Kings to the CPL final, and in 2022, he took on the role of head coach, leading the team to the Eliminators in the same year.
His role as coach and brand ambassador for the CPL has seen significant success, including reaching the final and providing valuable experience to his players.
Before becoming coach of the West Indies, Sammy also had a successful stint as head coach of Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he was a popular and influential figure since the league’s inception in 2016.
