LONDON: Harmony on and off the pitch
is vital if West Indies cricket is to have a chance of reviving past glories,
new head coach Ottis Gibson said on Wednesday.

West Indies cricket
has been beset by off-field politics in recent years and despite talents such as
Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul the team have
underperformed, especially in five-day cricket where they are ranked eighth of
the nine test-playing nations.

Gibson, named on Tuesday as the
successor to John Dyson who was sacked in August following the strike-affected
defeat against Bangladesh, said the raw material is in place for a revival of
Caribbean cricket.

“The one thing for certain is the ability and the
talent is still there, but it’s getting the team to play together,” Gibson, who
resigned as England’s fast bowling coach to take the West Indies job,
said.

“There has been a lot of off the field stuff which has created
unnecessary problems for the team and the players but if we can get ourselves
focused and have one common goal that everybody in West Indies cricket is hoping
to achieve we can put some good results together.

“The Board, the
cricketers, the players’ association, everybody needs one common thing and then
we can have a period of stability.”

West Indies played well in
patches during the 2-0 test defeat by Australia before Christmas and Gibson said
he also saw enough on England’s recent tour of the Caribbean last year to feel
optimistic about the future.

“The team showed in Australia that they
can compete with the top sides,” he said. “The raw material is still
there.

“I saw that first hand when England went to the West Indies.
We came up against a lot of good young players like Adrian Barath and Lendl
Simmons.

“When we went around the regions there was some obvious
talent there and it just needs to be found and nurtured.”

Gibson, who
has responsibility for all West Indies representative teams, is expected to
begin his role in the home One-day series against Zimbabwe next month.