MIchael Holding - FILE

I HOLD no brief for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) but to my mind the current debate about the new West Indies cricket coach is nothing but a storm in a teacup.

Late on Saturday, the WICB announced that it had appointed 53-year-old Australian John Dyson as the new head coach of the regional team. Since then there has been mixed reaction by commentators and past players to the selection of another 'foreigner' for the job.

Reaction has ranged from downright rejection to deep disappointment.

The common theme is that a regional past player should have been favoured for the job. I find most of the reasons given for rejecting Dyson, in a Caribbean News Agency report published in yesterday's Gleaner, to be at best very feeble.

As one who has followed the fortunes of regional players for a number of years, I am finding it very difficult to find even one who has the required experience to take over the West Indies team and do a good job.

Low-rated team

The truth is, there is no West Indies past player out there who has coached a top-rated international cricket team. Gordon Greenidge, Roger Harper, Phil Simmons, Augustine Logie have all done stints abroad but with low-rated teams such as Bangladesh, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Bermuda. None has a top-five team on his résumé. Dyson can name Sri Lanka, who reached the 2007 World Cup final with a team which he developed two years earlier.

I have some confidence in the people who head the WICB and they would have looked at the qualifications of the regional coaches who applied for the job and matched them with those which had come from abroad. It appears that those from the region came up short.

Dyson, who had expressed an interest in coaching India in the summer, is highly qualified. He has a masters degree in physical training and sports psychology.

His careful planning after being appointed Sri Lanka coach in 2003 has seen the country's cricketers lift themselves from seventh in both one-day and Tests. In addition to being losing World Cup finalists this year, they are now ranked number four in Tests.

Sri Lanka said in 2003 they needed a man who could develop a long-term plan for success and Dyson, a former Australian Test opener, provided that. He helped to transform fitness and skill levels in the team and Sri Lanka's cricket has benefited a great deal.

Those who are pouring cold water on the appointment of Dyson should point to a West Indian who can do the job and match that person's qualifications with Dyson's.

Cricket management and coaching should not be seen in a narrow, parochial manner. There are only a few good cricket coaches in the world and none of them are West Indian.

England, the country considered the home of cricket and football, had to go outside not too long ago to employ foreign coaches for both sports.

If I had the job of choosing a West Indian as coach for the regional side, my choice would be current international commentator and former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding

Holding has a very sound knowledge of the game but I have not heard him express any interest in full-time coaching. Until then, I will stick with the WICB's appointee and hope that he can do as good a job as he did in Sri Lanka.