Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced the appointment of seasoned New Zealand-born coach Bob Carter as its new batting consultant, tasking him with a core mission to lift batting performance across the Caribbean region and build a sustainable pipeline of elite talent for coming generations. The official announcement, made Wednesday, lands at a pivotal juncture for West Indies cricket, as the side prepares for a stacked schedule of upcoming international competitions over the next two and a half years.
Bringing more than three decades of high-level coaching experience to the role, Carter officially stepped into the position on September 1, and will collaborate across CWI’s men’s, women’s, and youth cricket programs. He will partner with existing regional and high-performance coaches to reinforce the local coaching ecosystem and nurture a deeper talent pool of skilled batters.
In comments following his appointment, Carter emphasized his long-standing coaching philosophy: “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.”
Carter boasts an extensive resume across top global cricket circuits. From 2012 to 2025, he held the position of High-Performance Coach with New Zealand Cricket. He also served as head coach of the New Zealand Women’s national team between 2019 and 2022, and held two stints as assistant coach for the New Zealand men’s side. Earlier in his career, he took on head coaching roles for New Zealand domestic sides Canterbury and Wellington, and served as director of cricket at England’s Northamptonshire County Cricket Club.
His first on-the-ground assignment will kick off later this month, with a regional tour covering all six of West Indies’ first-class cricket territories: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Leeward Islands, and the Windward Islands. During the tour, he will work directly with local players and coaching staff to assess current standards and implement early improvements.
Carter’s role is structured around two central priorities. First, he will deliver specialized technical guidance to both current elite batters and emerging young talent. Second, he will build the capacity of regional and high-performance coaches to design and deliver personalized, effective batting training programs for players at all levels.
CWI Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe explained that the appointment forms a key part of the governing body’s broader push to upgrade regional coaching infrastructure. “West Indies teams will participate in at least six global events over the next 24 to 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 noted.
Bascombe added that the long-term success of the appointment will be measured by sustainable change, not just short-term results: “But the measure of this appointment is not what our top six look like in twelve months. It is whether the coaches he works with come out of it better at teaching batting than they went in, and whether that reaches the coaching education modules the rest of the region is taught from. That is what lasts.”
The hiring comes as part of CWI’s wider technical development initiative, following a review by the Cricket Strategy and Officiating Committee that identified two key priorities for West Indies cricket growth: targeted specialist technical support, and systematic strengthening of regional coaching capacity. With the 2027 Men’s ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier set to take place between February and March next year, the appointment comes at a critical time to prepare the side for upcoming global competition, while building long-term strength across the regional cricket ecosystem.