Cricket West Indies Appoint Bob Carter as Batting Consultant

Former New Zealand women's head coach Bob Carter has joined Cricket West Indies as batting consultant on a one-year contract, with a mandate to improve batting standards across the Caribbean and strengthen the region's coaching system.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has appointed experienced English coach Bob Carter as its new batting consultant, as the organisation looks to raise the technical standards of players across its men's, women's and age-group programmes.

The 66-year-old officially began his role on September 1 and will initially spend a year working across the Caribbean. His appointment comes with West Indies preparing for the men's ODI World Cup Qualifier in February and March 2027, followed by the World Cup preparation window should the team qualify.

Carter's first major assignment will be a regional tour later this month. He is scheduled to visit 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.

"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," Carter said.

"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."

Extensive Coaching Experience

Carter brings nearly three decades of coaching experience to the role. He first joined the New Zealand men's set-up in 2004 as an assistant to head coach John Bracewell and spent five years in that position.

He later worked as an assistant to Mike Hesson between 2012 and 2014 before taking charge of New Zealand's women's team in 2019. Carter remained the women's head coach until the conclusion of the 2022 T20 World Cup.

He also served as a high-performance coach with New Zealand Cricket from 2012 through 2025, giving him extensive experience in player development and coaching structures.

CWI has identified two primary areas for Carter during his tenure. He will provide specialist technical support to elite and emerging batters while also helping regional and high-performance coaches develop and deliver effective individual batting programmes.

Carter will work closely with the national coaching teams and CWI's high-performance department to create batting modules that can eventually be incorporated into the regional coaching pathway.

Focus on Long-Term Development

CWI director of cricket Miles Bascombe said Carter's appointment was designed not only to improve the performance of current players but also to leave a lasting impact on the region's coaching system.

"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," Bascombe said.

"Bob's immediate job is to raise the technical standard heading into these events."

However, Bascombe stressed that Carter's success would ultimately be measured by the improvement of coaches and the wider development system rather than simply the performance of the senior batting line-up.

"The measure of this appointment is not what our top six look like in 12 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," he said.

Carter's tour of the six first-class territories later this month will give him an early opportunity to assess the available batting talent, identify technical areas requiring attention and understand the coaching needs across the Caribbean.

His appointment represents part of CWI's broader effort to strengthen its player-development structure ahead of a busy international calendar and build a stronger pipeline of batting talent for future West Indies teams.