Eight of the 18 applicants for the post of head coach of the T&T Red Force team have decided against showing up for the interview, so the battle is now down to 10 candidates.
The interviewing process ended on Wednesday when the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB)-appointed committee was to interview the last three applicants but former West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree decided against throwing his hat in the ring and it was settled at 10 candidates.
Guardian Media Sports understands that the committee headed by former Cricket West Indies (CWI) director Dr Allen Sammy will now further deliberate and make a recommendation to the TTCB, early next week.
In addition to Sammy, the committee included former CWI Territorial Development Officer Kumar Rampat, former Comptroller of Customs Ammar Samaroo, and former West Indies cricketer Ann Browne-John.
Among the 10 interviewed were former coach Mervyn Dillon, former manager David Furlonge, St Kitts/Nevis Patriots captain Rayad Emrit, and assistant coach of the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) Imran Jan. It is understood that five of the candidates from overseas were not interviewed because it would be an issue getting work permits in place in time for the coach to be installed which is the first week of December.
Last season, the Red Force finished second overall in the Regional Four-Day Tournament which was cut short with two rounds to complete because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The national cricketers were also semi-finalists in the Super50 Cup.
In a break with tradition, the TTCB has opened up the process to name a national senior team coach in line with accepted international standards of good governance, transparency and accountability by openly advertising for the position.
As soon as the head coach is named, he will go to work immediately in preparing the national team as their first order of business is the Super50 Regional tournament which is expected to take place in T&T in February.
