Since the omission of Alick Athanaze from the Windward Islands Volcanoes set up for the 2020-2021 Regional First-Class season, there have been loud cries for the appointment of a batting consultant. The talented Dominican cricketer was not contracted owing to poor form over the last two seasons.
However, the call to increase the coaching complement is not likely to materialize anytime soon.
According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (Ag.) of the Volcanoes, Dwain Gill a lack of funding as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the franchise to cut back on its coaching staff.
Recently, Cricket West Indies (CWI) disclosed that the salaries of all contracted players and staff would be cut by 50% effective July 2020 because of a cash crunch.
As a result, Dominican Fernix Thomas, who served as the Volcanoes assistant coach over the last few seasons, is one of the casualties.
According to CEO Gill, the franchise was forced to exclude Thomas from the setup, at least for the remainder of the year.
“His contract comes to an end as of June 30th, 2020. Under the current circumstances, it is not feasible to offer him another contract with all the uncertainty surrounding finances” the Grenadian explained on a local radio program.
Despite not having a contract, Thomas’ services will be utilized as deemed necessary.
“Fernix has done pretty well for us. He has been very helpful and we continue to engage him. It does not mean that he is not part of the system. He can still come in on a monthly basis when the action comes on stream.
“Not having him is a blow. When the funding comes back, which we are hoping will be by January, he can still be engaged. We have a couple of assistant coaches on the ground in Grenada including Junior Murray who is paid by the Ministry of Sports and we have a few other local coaches,” he remarked.
The Windward Islands Volcanoes franchise is located in Grenada, having moved from Dominica following the passage of Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Gill has a long history in Caribbean cricket coaching, management, and administration. He is a CWI Level Two Coaching Certification holder, where his skills have been utilized for the West Indies Under-19, Windward Islands Under-15, and Grenada teams at all levels.
Gill has also regularly held management roles including for the St Lucia CPL Franchise, Global T20 Canada, the West Indies A-Team, and the World Champion 2016 Under 19 Team. All the six franchises are funded primarily by Cricket West Indies.