BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Robert Samuels has joined the Sagicor West Indies High Performance Centre as an Assistant Coach.
Robert Samuels was named assistant coach at Sagicor West Indies High Performance Centre.
The former Jamaica captain and West Indies opening batsman recently completed a stint as Assistant Coach of the West Indies Under-19 team and said he is delighted by his continued involvement in West Indies cricket.
“This is the first time I have been working with elite players at this level – with the Under-19s and now at the Sagicor High Performance Centre. The experience was very good working with Roddy Estwick in the Under-19 team and it has really opened my eyes,” Samuels said.
“Here, at the Sagior HPC is something I have always wanted to do…working with a group of quality players and based in one place…having players come to you, splitting the time in morning and afternoon sessions and being hands-on.”
Samuels has worked with junior players for over a decade and earlier this year was at the helm when Jamaica won both the Regional Under-19 three-day and one-day tournaments.
He will be working with the students of the Sagicor HPC for a month and will then travel with the West Indies Under-19s to Bangladesh where they are slated to play seven 50-over matches in December.
“I am very tactical when it comes to cricket. I love the basics of cricket – I love to look at players’ techniques and see how we can tweak techniques and help the players to improve and get better. I enjoy doing the basics of cricket and trying to get better players better,” Samuels said.
The 42-year-old played six Test matches for West Indies in the mid-to-late 1990s when he was also one of the leading batsmen in regional cricket. He made a Test-best score of 125 against New Zealand at the Antigua Recreational Ground in 1996.
Samuels added: “To come here and have four coaches working together and have facilities – indoor and outdoor – this jumps out at me. I am looking forward to the experience of being here for a month to work with quality coaches in quality facilities. I am here to learn and whatever I can impart I will definitely look to help.”