"I'm proud of what cricket has come to in Ireland"
After eight years in charge of the Irish cricket team, Phil Simmons has expressed his immense pride and satisfaction at the success he and the team has achieved.
In an exclusive interview with The Slog Sweep podcast, the 51-year-old looked back on his hugely successful tenure as he prepares to take over the West Indies head coach position.
Simmons revealed he only finalised the deal to 'go home' last week despite reports suggesting he had been in the pipeline for some time. He leaves Ireland for Antigua early next week.
Looking back on the many highlights, including World Cup wins over England, West Indies and Zimbabwe among others, Simmons pinpointed Kevin O'Brien's innings in Bangalore, the 10,000 sell-out crowd at Malahide in 2013 and the most recent World Cup campaign as stand-out moments.
As a self-professed 'adopted Irishman', Simmons spoke about the 'tough decision' he had to make when the West Indies Cricket Board contacted him.
With his family living in London and his Cricket Ireland contract not up until September of this year, the former West Indian international had to weigh-up several different considerations but ultimately felt 'it was time to give something back to West Indies cricket'.
On the recent World Cup campaign in Australia/New Zealand, Simmons admitted he was able to 'sit back and enjoy' the tournament, watching his side represent Ireland in a thoroughly professional manner.
When asked about the ICC's decision to reduce the next World Cup to 10 teams, Simmons said: "There definitely shouldn't be a World Cup without Ireland."
Also on this week's show, Robbo and Bails are joined in studio by two of Ireland's World Cup stars - George Dockrell and Andrew Balbirnie.