Ahead of the 2024 tournament in June, Phil Simmons, who led the West Indies to victory in the T20 World Cup in 2016, has become a “specialist coach” for Papua New Guinea. Soon after the West Indies were eliminated in the group round of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, Phil Simmons’ second time as coach came to an end.
Since then, he has coached a number of franchise teams, including the Trinbago Knight Riders, LA Knight Riders, and Karachi Kings. He will assist head coach Tatenda Taibu, the former wicketkeeper for Zimbabwe. According to a press release from Cricket PNG, he was brought in because to his vast knowledge of the regional environment.
Phil Simmons Appointed As A Consultant
On appointed as a specialist coach of PNG, Phil Simmons said :
“My role here is as a consultant coach and [will be about] how I put across my experience, not just playing in World Cups but playing in the Caribbean and the things that we should be looking at to make sure we do it right in the Caribbean and especially the venues that we play at,”
“As a player internationally, for fourteen years and then as an international coach for eighteen years, it’s been a long time in the game. It’s always brilliant to come home, always brilliant to come back to any part of the West Indies. You know how beautiful it is here. I’m looking forward to getting home, which is Trinidad,” he added.
PNG traveled from Port Moresby for four days before arriving in St Kitts at the end of last week. Before playing Oman and Namibia in official warm-up matches in Trinidad and Tobago the next week, they are scheduled to train and participate in a number of unofficial warm-up matches over the next few days.
They have been assigned to the World Cup’s Group C. On June 2, they will play their opening game in Guyana against co-hosts West Indies. Four days later, on the same field, they will play Uganda. After that, on June 14 they will return to Trinidad to play New Zealand, and on June 17 they will play Afghanistan.
Phil Simmons said:
“Their energy is unbelievable: their warm-up alone yesterday got me tired. The guys look like they have settled in really well… I’ve known the head coach for a long time and he’s always energetic. There is always a lot of energy, but the players seem to be pushing him where that is not so, and I like that atmosphere in the team,”
Batter Assad Vala will lead PNG, who will be playing their second T20 World Cup, after a winless campaign in 2021.
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