Cricket West Indies (CWI) has appointed former New Zealand women’s head coach Bob Carter as batting consultant. 

Carter will, in his initial one-year engagement, focus on raising batting standards across the Caribbean and strengthening the regional coaching system. The 66-year-old Englishman has close to 30 years of coaching experience and comes with an impressive coaching resume, will work across CWI’s men’s, women’s and age-group programmes.

His appointment comes as West Indies prepare for the men’s ODI World Cup qualifier in February and March 2027, followed by the World Cup preparation window, if West Indies were to make the cut. Carter officially joined CWI on September 1. 

First assignment this month

His first assignment will be a “regional tour later this month, taking him across all six first-class territories – Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands – where he will work directly with players and coaches,” the CWI says in a statement to the media. 

For Cater, “West Indies cricket has a proud tradition of producing outstanding batsmen, and my job is to help build the base to produce future generations of world-class players. My focus has always been on supporting players and coaches to reach their full potential, and I am looking forward to working alongside the regional and high-performance coaches to help achieve that.”

CWI says Carter would have two principal areas of focus: providing specialist technical support to elite and emerging batters, and also strengthening the ability of regional and high-performance coaches to design and deliver effective individual batting programmes.

CWI director of cricket, Miles Bascombe, says Carter will work closely with the national coaches, while also collaborating with CWI’s high-performance team to develop batting modules to be incorporated into the regional coaching pathway. This regional tour later this month will provide Carter with a chance to assess the batting talent and coaching needs across the Caribbean.

West Indies teams will participate in at least six global events over the next 24-30 months, including the men’s World Cup qualifier next February. “The steps we take now are intended to lay the groundwork for success. Bob’s immediate job is to raise the technical standard heading into these events,” Bascombe explains.