(CMC) HAMILTON, New Zealand – Despite calls for West Indies batting coach Floyd Reifer to be replaced, head coach Daren Sammy has thrown his full support behind the Barbadian, saying he still believes he is the right man for the job.
Floyd ReiferReifer’s job has come under intense scrutiny in recent months following a failure by the regional team’s batters to consistently score runs.
It was brought to the fore when the Windies were routed for 27 by Australia in the third and final Test in July, the second lowest total in Test history.
That performance led to Cricket West Indies (CWI) holding an emergency meeting to discuss the future of West Indies cricket.
The 53-year-old Reifer has held a continuous role as an assistant coach for the West Indies since 2023.
Speaking during a virtual press conference hosted by CWI on Thursday, Sammy was asked if he still had confidence in Reifer as the team’s batting coach.
And while the head coach admitted that the team’s batters were not as consistent as they ought to be, he said he still believed in Reifer’s ability to get the job done.
“I have seen Floyd Reifer work tirelessly every single day at training. The effort he puts, the attention he puts to detail to try to get our guys ready.
“He has had little days of joy, just like me. His days of joy as a batting coach have been few and far between, but we understand our jobs as coaches. It’s a performance driven job that we rely heavily on player performance and even when player performance comes, it’s not really attributed to the work of the coaches,” Sammy said.
“But I see a man that is dedicated, preparing guys every single day.”
Sammy pointed to Reifer’s involvement in the development of batsmen such as Keacy Carty and Sherfane Rutherford, who was named in the 2024 ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year after scoring an impressive 425 runs in nine matches at an average of 106.2.
“I saw Floyd work with Rutherford endlessly, and Keacy Carty, and started working on areas pertaining to their roles and how they wanted to play.
“And what I saw from Carty and what I saw from Rutherford during that year 2024, when Rutherford made the ODI Team of the Year, and I never heard not one time the work that Floyd did with those players,” Sammy maintained.
“Every single member of my staff takes their job very seriously and puts in the work. We do understand that even though we put in the work, it takes our guys to go out and execute. And when for us we watch games like this tour in New Zealand and see that every single game we’ve been in a position to win and when those last moments in the game where we have to make critical decisions under pressure, we falter.
“I say all of this to say that I believe in Floyd, I believe in [all my staff] and my players and we will continue to do all that we can so that our players can be glorified when they do well,” he added.
