Andre Coley, the head coach of West Indies cricket team, will be helping Bermuda at the North American Cup over the next fortnight.

Bermuda will play Canada, United States, Bahamas and host nation Cayman Islands in the inaugural tournament, which starts on Saturday, and they will have the assistance of one of the world’s premier coaches.

Coley’s presence as a “high-performance consultant” alongside head coach Cal Waldron comes as a result of an agreement reached between the Bermuda Cricket Board and Cricket West Indies at the recent ICC Americas Annual Regional Conference in Costa Rica.

Appointed head coach of West Indies Test team in 2023, Coley was an assistant coach during West Indies’ triumphs during the ICC T20 World Cup in 2014 and 2016, and is looking forward to assisting the Bermuda side.

“I am pleased to be supporting the Bermuda Cricket Board as a consulting coach during the upcoming North American Cup as part of CWI’s commitment to aid in cricket development in Bermuda,” Coley said.

“The associate nations have always played an exciting brand of cricket, primarily across the white-ball formats, and have had numerous outstanding performances. It is an exciting time for cricket in the region and I am looking forward to working closely with the board, coaches, and players as they prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifiers.”

Waldron is thrilled to have a coach of Coley’s experience to draw upon.

“The opportunity to work with Mr Coley is a great one, as it will elevate our team around player management and team performance,” he said.

“It will also offer the BCB an opportunity to access one of the region's most knowledgeable coaching resources to help modernise our high-performance objectives.

“I’m looking forward to working with Mr Coley, and know this will be a beneficial opportunity for myself as a coach and for the players. This is a unique opportunity to be in the presence of a high-performance elite coach, who will share his coaching knowledge and experiences with us.

“I hope that his feedback and presence are warmly embraced and appreciated by all BCB stakeholders and the senior men’s national team. I hope that Mr Coley can extend his consultancy beyond the North American Cricket Cup, as I would like to see these partnerships become the norm within our national team programmes.”

BCB president Lloyd Smith is delighted to have secured a collaboration with the region’s biggest hitters and hopes it will continue for many years.

“The BCB is elated to have the memorandum of understanding commence with the launch of the NACC and sees this as an opportunity for the advancement of international match fixtures, cultural exchange, and increased interaction between CWI and all members of the ICC Americas region,” Smith said

“I wish to acknowledge former CWI CEO Johnny Graves, director of cricket Miles Bascome, Lynford Inverary and newly appointed CEO Chris Dehring for their collective support of activating our MOU.

“I also wish to acknowledge the successful efforts of our executive director, Cal Blankendal, in securing the tenure of Mr Coley during his visit to Costa Rica at the ICC Americas Annual Regional Conference.

“His direct talks with Miles Bascome led to this groundbreaking, high-performance collaboration.

“The executive and staff of the BCB look forward to working with Andre Coley and CWI for many years to come.”

Bermuda begin the North American Cup on Saturday against Canada before taking on Cayman and the US on Sunday and Monday respectively. After a rest day, they complete the group stage by playing Bahamas on April 23.