Phil Simmons joins TKR camp as head coach

Finishing with the wooden spoon in the last season, the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) have made a change in their coaching staff. The former West Indies’ coach and cricketer, Phil Simmons has replaced Abhishek Nayar in the head coach’s seat for the upcoming season. 

Simmons has been an experienced campaigner in the coaching circuit. In CPL, he has coached Barbados Tridents (Barbados Royals now) to the title in 2019. In his most recent exploit, he coached Dubai Capitals to the playoffs in the inaugural season of the ILT20 league in the UAE.

That stint came right after he relinquished his position as West Indies’ head coach post the Australia tour in December. Simmons has also coached Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan in international cricket. 

As mentioned above, TKR finished last in the previous season, missing out on the playoffs for the first time. It was a shocking result for the franchise given they had the likes of Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine in their side. 

However, they would hope to turn their fortunes around under Simmons’ guidance while keeping the same core. 

"As captain, I'm very excited to have coach Phil with us. We have great chemistry working together as a pair," TKR captain Kieron Pollard said. 

"We've done it in the international scene, and it's great that we are getting the opportunity to work for TKR. Hopefully, this combination will bring smiles and some exciting results back to TKR,” he added. 

CPL 2023 starts August 16 onwards. TKR play their first game on August 19 against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.