Ottis Gibson: Former West Indies all-rounder is new Yorkshire CCC coach

Gibson has joined the club on a three-year contract and will start work at the end of next month.

The former West Indies all-rounder, 52, replaces Andrew Gale after Yorkshire sacked their entire coaching and backroom team in the wake of the racism crisis.

Gale is among those understood to be taking the club to an employment tribunal amid anger caused by the mass clearout.

Younus Khan, the former Yorkshire batsman and Pakistan captain, plus Allan Donald, the ex-South Africa pace bowler, are reportedly among those under consideration for the two vacant assistant coach positions.

Yorkshire hope to make those appointments shortly, with the players having been put through their paces of late by an interim coaching team led by former Yorkshire pace bowlers Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Harmison.

Gibson will report to Darren Gough, the new interim managing director of Yorkshire cricket, and have overall responsibility for the performance and management of the first XI.

“I’m extremely honoured and excited to be given the opportunity to join Yorkshire County Cricket Club as head coach,” said Gibson.

“This is one of the most prestigious roles in English county cricket, and I am really looking forward to working with this talented group of players to take the club forward.

“I’ve spoken at length with Goughy about the direction the club is heading in, and I’m excited to be a part of that future.”

Gibson, who played two Tests and 15 one-day internationals for West Indies, has a wealth of coaching experience, having previously been head coach for the West Indies and South Africa and bowling coach for England and Bangladesh.

He stepped down from his role with Bangladesh last week following a two-year spell and will shortly link up with Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League, after which he will commence his duties at Headingley.

Gough remarked: “Ottis becoming head coach is an important moment for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and we are very happy that he has become part of the team.

“Ottis is one of the best coaches in the world and will be a fantastic addition. His knowledge, commitment, experience and cricket know-how will be vital for us as we move into pre-season and get ourselves up and running.

“We were absolutely blown away by the level of interest and quality of candidates for this role, but I have no doubt that he’s the best person for the job and will pick up the challenge with relish”.

Yorkshire have received more than 200 applications for their various coaching/backroom team roles and are also looking to appoint six non-executive directors.

Gough’s delight at recruiting Gibson, who played for Durham, Leicestershire and Glamorgan, was echoed by Lord Kamlesh Patel, the new Yorkshire chairman.

“We’re delighted to welcome Ottis to the club,” he said.

“His playing and coaching credentials speak for themselves and he has had a distinguished career performing at the highest level.

“Ottis’s character and his commitment to buying into the process that we are going through at Yorkshire County Cricket Club shone through in our discussions.

“He is someone that I know will encourage dialogue and help foster a culture of inclusion at the club, as well as supporting and developing the world-class talent we have here and pushing them to the next level.

“I look forward to working with Ottis over the coming weeks and months as we continue our rebuild of the club”.

Meanwhile, and following on from Colin Graves’s comments to The Yorkshire Post yesterday defending the influence of his Family Trusts on Yorkshire cricket in light of criticism by former chairman Roger Hutton, who said that they were a bar to him sacking key staff at the height of the racism crisis, Yorkshire have issued the following statement: “Following a very positive dialogue since the appointment of Lord Patel as Chair in November 2021, the trustees of the Graves Trusts have confirmed their support for Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s proposed amendments to club rules that are intended to give clarity on the relationship between the trustees and YCCC.

“The trustees, who are professional and independent, and the club are in full agreement to the removal of a requirement for the trustees’ prior written approval to be obtained before a person can be appointed a member of the board or before the board can remove a member.

“In practice, the trustees’ consent to an appointment of a board member has never been withheld, and their consent to the removal of a board member has never been requested. At all times, the club has had sole responsibility for employment decisions.

“The affairs and activities of the club have always been managed by the board, and the club’s powers are exercised by the board, which is entirely independent from the Trustees, who are not members of the board, and have no involvement in the board’s day-to-day decision-making.

“To avoid any ambiguity, the right to appoint a representative to attend board meetings as an observer in order to monitor financial performance will also be removed from all finance agreements.

“The trustees will continue to monitor and appraise the financial stability of their investment, given their own fiduciary duties.

“The proposed changes are currently under the necessary legal review, and currently being finalised before being presented to members at the forthcoming AGM; both parties, however, are clear in their agreement for the updated terms.”

Lord Patel commented: “Lending from the Graves Trusts is incredibly important financially for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, but Trustees are not involved in how we run the club.

“Since I became chair, we have had very constructive discussions with the Trustees, who are fully supportive of the steps we are taking to rebuild the Club and invested in our success, but it is clear to me that they hold no influence on the decisions of the Board as this is a commercial agreement.

“We are making these changes, in the interests of transparency and in line with good governance, to remove any misunderstanding of the role of the Trusts.”