THE next time Ireland face West Indies, National Coach Phil Simmons could be in charge of the opposition.

I understand that Simmons, a legend in his home island of Trinidad, is one of seven people being considered to be the next coach of the West Indies, who crashed to defeat to Ireland on Monday in their World Cup opener.
The WICB (Cricket Board) hope to make an appointment in time for the coach to take charge of the home Test series against England in April.

There was no confirmation from Cricket Ireland that Simmons has applied for the post which has been vacant since Otis Gibson was sacked in August. Former opening batsman Stuart Williams has been acting as temporary coach since and is currently leading the side in Australia and New Zealand.

If Simmons does get the chance to coach his native country - it is believed to be the only job he would quit Ireland for - it is unlikely that Cricket Ireland would hold him to his two-year contract, which was signed in December 2013.

His eight-year reign, of unparalleled success, is comfortably the longest since Ireland first appointed a full-time coach, Mike Hendrick, in 1995. Since then Ken Rutherford was in charge from 2000-2002 and Adi Birrell from 2002-07.

Simmons' next game, Ireland's second at the World Cup, against UAE here in Brisbane next Wednesday, will be his 220th as coach and he has led the team to two Intercontinental Cup triumphs and through four successful World Twenty20 qualifying campaigns. In 2013, Ireland became the first team to win the Associates' treble, of I-Cup, World Cricket League and Twenty20.

When I asked Simmons last August if he would be interested in the position, he refused to make any comment but, significantly, did not rule himself out.

“I'm not going to comment on anything about West Indies cricket,” he said at the time.

Meanwhile, Ireland's superb four wickets win over the former world champions in Nelson, continues to impress leading commentators around the world.

Most of the national newspaper cricket correspondents did not consider Ireland's victory - their fifth over a Full Member nation at their third World Cup finals - was a shock. Former England captain Mike Atherton, said in ‘The Times' it was “a measure of Ireland's steady progress in recent times as well as West Indies' sad and dizzying decline”.

Atherton's fellow Sky Television commentator Michael Holding, a former West Indian bowling great , went further and said that Ireland should have be granted Test status immediately.

Fearful that Boyd Rankin may not be the last Ireland player to switch to England, Holding said: “Ireland need to be recognised now. If they continue to linger around the lower regions of world cricket they'll continue to lose good cricketers. (Eoin) Morgan left Ireland to play for England because he saw brighter prospects (and now he is their World Cup captain).”

Holding also predicted that Ireland would go on and finish in the top four of their seven-team group and reach the last eight.

“I should certainly think they'll qualify. I think they'll beat Zimbabwe (and UAE). They have an outstanding chance of going on to the quarter-finals,” he added. Three group victories should guarantee a place in the knock-stages.

With a nine days' gap until their next match, the Ireland squad flew straight to the Gold Coast for well-earned ‘R and R' following their opening World Cup victory. A day's golf is planned before they arrive in Brisbane, with their first net session ahead of the UAE game taking place on Friday morning.