Ottis Gibson has officially begun his reign as the new head coach at Yorkshire CC. There are many problems within the club both on and off the field of play.
Gibson was confirmed as the head of the Headingley based outfit in early February but had always planned to start the job in March after the Pakistan Super League had ended as he was the bowling coach of Multan Sultans who finished as runners up in this year’s PSL.
The West Indian has a vast amount of experience previously coaching the West Indies team from 2010 to 2014 as well as South Africa from 2017 to 2019. Also Gibson is the first person from a BAME background to coach Yorkshire Cricket Club.
There is a lot of negatively surrounding Yorkshire CC following the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal that has rocked the club both its reputation within the BAME community as well as financially.
One issue that Gibson has to deal with is Gary Balance; the ex-England player was one of the players citied as being racist to Azeem Rafiq. Since then, Balance has taken time away from the game and it remains to be seen if he is allowed back into the fold. However, interim managing director Darren Gough has confirmed to the Daily Mail that the left hander will be welcomed back into “an inclusive and welcoming environment that we’re building at Yorkshire.”
Results have been poor for the club with Yorkshire failing to progress past the group stages in the Bob Willis Trophy, finishing 4th in the T20 Blast as well as 4th in the Royal One-Day Cup. The last time the club won a trophy was the County Championship back in 2015.
However, there is a sense of optimism around the club following the emergence of several young talents including Harry Brook and Dom Bess. The pair are seen as the future of the club and Gibson is expected to rebuild the club from the ground up.
With several world class players already within the team including Joe Root, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid and several talented young players in the academy Yorkshire are predicted to bounce back strong this season. With Gibson’s CV it’s no surprise the club chose him to kick-start Yorkshire’s recovery after a dismal 12 months.
Yorkshire start their season off with a pre-season game against Leeds Bradford MCCU on the 4th of April which will mark Ottis Gibson’s first game in charge of the White Rose.