ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Kieron Pollard Appointed As Assistant Coach Of England For T20 WC

To strengthen the team’s batting lineup the England and Wales Cricket Board has appointed former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard to the coaching panel of the England cricket team ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.

England are the defending champions of the tournament and they defeated Pakistan to lift the trophy in 2022. ECB issued a press release and informed about the development.

In the press release, the ECB stated that they have roped in the services of the legendary West Indies cricketer as he will provide the much-needed expertise of local conditions in the Caribbean in the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be very helpful for the Jos Buttler-led England.

Kieron Pollard appointed as England’s assistant coach

The press release read, “Kieron Pollard, who played 101 IT20s for the West Indies, will join England for the T20 World Cup. Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has been appointed to the England Men’s coaching team for next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States.”

“Pollard will join the England Men’s team specifically for the T20 World Cup as an assistant coach and to provide expertise of local conditions. Pollard was a part of West Indies’ 2012 Men’s T20 World Cup success and has vast experience in the format having played more than 600 matches.”

England didn’t have a good outing during the 2023 ODI World Cup and were knocked out from the round-robin stage of the tournament. England were only able to win three matches in the whole tournament and finished in seventh place. England had the worst title defense of the ODI World Cup and will aim to recover in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Getting back to Kieron Pollard, he was part of the Mumbai Indians coaching staff during the Indian Premier League 2023 and has experience in coaching.

Kieron Pollard has played T20 cricket in almost every part of the world and has played 101 T20I matches for the West Indies in which he has scored 1569 runs at a strike rate of 135.18. He is one of the two batsmen to hit six sixes in the format.

Kieron Pollard also led Trinidad and Tobago to a win in the Caribbean Premier League 2020 and was also part of the IPL team Mumbai Indians and won five titles with them.

Getting back to England’s performance after the 2023 ODI World Cup, the Jos Buttler-led side didn’t have a memorable outing in the Caribbean Islands as they ended up losing both the white ball series.

The English team lost the first two matches of the T20I series whereas it was Phil Salt’s centuries that marked England’s comeback in the next two games. However, the Windies were able to register a win in the fifth match which also helped them take the series.

The English cricket team won their first T20 World Cup in the Caribbean back in 2009 under Paul Collingwood and with the tournament returning to West Indies in 2024, the English team will want to repeat the heroics.