Gibson facing dilemma
OTTIS Gibson will leave for his role as England bowling coach in Sri Lanka on Tuesday with no idea how he will resolve the dilemma if he is offered the West Indies coaching job on his return.
"The West Indies have told me they will draw up a shortlist at the end of September," he said. "But sometimes you have to make decisions here and now, and the opportunity to coach the England bowlers in Sri Lanka is not something I can turn down.
"It's only a part-time position but it's a chance for me to show what I can do and I'm really looking forward to it."
England's most recent bowling coach, Allan Donald, is considering the offer of a full-time post with Warwickshire and is not available for the five-match one-day series in Sri Lanka.
If Donald decided to join Ashley Giles in attempting to revive their former county following their relegation, a more permanent role with England might open up for Gibson.
The 38-year-old Barbadian, who played two Tests and 15 one-day internationals for the West Indies, has lived in England since 1999.
He has a residential qualification and was employed by the ECB as a national coach in the North-West from 2001-2003.
He has expressed an interest in the West Indies job but isn't certain that he has enough coaching experience to be offered it.
"Who knows what opportunities might arise?" he said. "I have coached England Under-15s and Under-19s, but have not done a lot with senior international players.
"It would be fantastic to be in charge of an international team, but at this moment I don't know what I'd do if the West Indies offered me the job. I'll cross that bridge if I come to it."
Gibson's most likely option is to coach the England bowlers this winter then play for one more season with Durham, who are prepared to offer him some coaching as well.
"We're talking about that," he said. "I feel as if I could play for five more years, but my ambitions lie in coaching.
"I'm flying to Sri Lanka on Tuesday and I expect to find the bowlers a bit battered after their Twenty20 experience. So I'll need to do a bit of confidence building to get them believing in themselves again.
"I know Stuart Broad and he's a strong enough character to get over what happened to him. He's a great prospect and I just have to remind him how good he is.
11:04am Saturday 22nd September 2007
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