HELPS SAMOA TO INTERNATIONAL CRICKETING SUCCESS.
A young man with his cricketing roots firmly in club cricket in Yorkshire made headlines around the other side of the world a couple of months ago by guiding Samoa’s women cricketers to golden glory in the Pacific Games.
Captain Cook made the long journey from Great Ayton to the South Pacific, but even he didn’t manage to pick up a gold medal for his troubles. Ian West played North Yorkshire and South Durham Premier League cricket for Stokesley and Great Ayton for many years, but after meeting his future wife in one of his several winters playing club cricket in Australia, he emigrated to New Zealand where he now lives in Auckland with his family.
Shortly after marrying he spent time qualifying to play cricket for the South Pacific island of Samoa, where his wife had family, making his international debut for them in 2012, and setting a new T20 national bowling record for them in a World Cup qualifier against Japan a year later.
His time spent qualifying for Samoa also saw him appointed as their High Performance coach, and coach to their international women’s team, and he took them to their first ever international success in the Pacific Games held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea earlier this year. The history making side were subsequently feted on the island, enjoying a reception hosted by the Prime Minister and featuring in both TV and radio programmes, both in Samoa and New Zealand where several of his players are based.
The Pacific Games is the equivalent of the Commonwealth Games, and over 24,000 attended the glittering opening ceremony with Ian proudly parading with his side amongst the other Samoan sportsmen and women competing against 23 other countries, including Australia and New Zealand, in 28 different sports.
Back in Auckland, after all the excitement, an understandably proud coach reflected on a unique achievement for his adopted country. “After qualifying from the group stages we met Vanuatu in the semi-final, winning that one by 44 runs before facing the host nation in the final for the gold and silver medals. In an incredibly tense finish we held our nerve brilliantly to win by 3 runs.
“It was our first ever victory against PNG who are the powerhouse cricket nation in the region. It was also extra special to beat them at home in a final when they had hundreds of spectators supporting them. It was Samoa`s first ever victory in a major ICC tournament for any of its national teams (men, women or U19s) and we now move on to the second round of World Cup qualifiers which will take place next year.”
Having embarked on his coaching career several years ago Ian was recently appointed coach of Auckland Premier side Grafton for whom he has just signed one of his former Great Ayton teammates, South African Nick Hendrie, who enjoyed a wonderful three year spell as the village side’s overseas professional.
Before that Ian helped coach Auckland’s under 17 team to national success in 2014, as well as assisting with the first-class district’s under 19 side who were crowned national champions at the beginning of 2015.