Bennett King appointed West Indies coach

Bennett King will be the first foreign coach to guide West Indies when he replaces Gus Logie, who was sacked after they won the Champions Trophy in England last month.

King, the 39-year-old head coach of the Australian cricket academy, has accepted the job and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) planned to announce the signing early next week.

Last year an annoyed King turned down a similar offer when the WICB unveiled him as the man to replace Roger Harper before negotiations had been finalised. Logie was installed instead and King continued to stay in the Academy role, where he oversaw the programme's move from Adelaide to Brisbane.

A former physical education teacher and a first-grade club player, King replaced John Buchanan as Queensland's coach when he took the Australia job. In his first season King guided the Bulls to the Pura Milk Cup and followed it with two more trophies in consecutive years before taking over from Rod Marsh at the Academy.

King will join fellow Australian Darren Holden, a former talent identification coach at Queensland who is the WICB's coaching manager, in the Caribbean.

Greg Chappell, the former South Australia coach, and Peter Moores, who is in charge of Sussex, were also interviewed for the position.