Samuel Badree named West Indies’ assistant coach for white-ball leg of South Africa tour

Former legspinner Samuel Badree has been appointed as West Indies’ assistant coach for the white-ball leg of their South Africa tour. West Indies play three ODIs and as many T20Is starting March 16.

Badree has previously worked as a spin-bowling consultant for West Indies, and Delhi Capitals (in the IPL), and believes that this opportunity will be “a continuation and an extension of that”. In the latest role, he will work alongside interim coach Andre Coley, and Shai Hope and Rovman Powell, the newly appointed ODI and T20I captains respectively.

“I look forward to catching up with the players, some who I played with and most I already know, as we seek to acquit ourselves well on what is expected to be a challenging tour of South Africa,” he said.

Badree, who turns 42 on Thursday, was part of the T20 World Cup winning squads in 2012 and 2016. A short-format specialist, he has represented West Indies in 52 T20Is from 2012 to 2018, picking up 56 wickets at an economy of 6.17. In all, he has played 197 T20s, taking 187 wickets at an economy of 6.02. He has also featured in 12 first-class matches and 33 List A games.

Jimmy Adams, CWI’s director of cricket, said: “Samuel brings plenty of international experience and a strong desire to assist our slow bowlers in becoming world-class. We believe this combination makes him ideally placed to add tremendous value to our support staff in South Africa, and specifically for our slow bowlers.”

West Indies are currently playing in a two-match Test series in South Africa. They lost the first Test in Centurion by 87 runs. The second Test starts on Wednesday in Johannesburg.