Richard Pybus named Windies high performance director

Englishman Richard Pybus has made a return to the Cricket West Indies (CWI) as the high- performance director for the next two years.

In his new role, the 53-year-old will work alongside the Chairman of Selectors and all the technical coaches in their bid to improve the high-performance programmes and standards within franchise cricket.

"His role will also include, but not limited to standardizing coaching and preparation for regional teams and overseeing a talent identification programme from the Under-19 level all the way to the WINDIES International level," the CWI said.

Ecstatic to rejoin the West Indies cricket in a newly-created role, Pybus said that he was excited with the idea of helping to identify and develop the region's cricketing resources.

"I am delighted to be re-joining Cricket West Indies in this newly-created role. I am looking forward to working with Jimmy Adams and the rest of the cricket department to improve standards within a system that I know well. My focus will be on developing our high-performance programmes and helping to identify and coach the most talented cricketers in the Caribbean," Pybus said.

Previously, Pybus served as CWI Director of Cricket from October 2013 to December 2016, overseeing the Caribbean side's victories in two ICC World T20Is, an ICC Women's World T20 and an ICC U-19 World Cup.

Besides serving the role of international head coach with Pakistan and Bangladesh, Pybus extensively coached in South Africa for Border, Titans and Cape Cobras, as well as Middlesex CCC in England, at domestic cricket level.

It should be noted that Pybus' record with high-performance programmes is well established. He is the most successful South African franchise coach of all time having won nine championships across all formats.

The two-time South African coach of the year was also part of a system that developed the likes of current South African players namely Faf du Plessis, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and A.B de Villiers.