Former West Indies’ coach David Moore has been officially appointed head coach of the national cricket team, Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) announced yesterday.

Moore is set to join the squad ahead of their tour to Namibia in March when they will play their second Intercontinental Shield match as well as two one-day internationals (ODI).

Yesterday’s announcement came as no surprise with The Royal Gazette revealing back in September that Moore was the BCB’s top choice to replace previous coach, Gus Logie.

A BCB statement read: “I confirm that Mr. David Moore has been offered and has accepted the position of Bermuda national coach.

“Mr. Moore’s paperwork has recently been submitted to the Department of Immigration and we are optimistic that he will be able to join the squad before they leave for the Namibia tour in mid-March.”

The BCB have charged the former New South Wales wicketkeeper with a remit to regain Bermuda’s ODI status, which they lost during the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa in April, 2009.

Prior to the Namibia tour, Bermuda will head to a pre-tournament training camp at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

“The Board expects David to bring the ability to create cricket systems that integrate and align the development, coaching and direction of Bermuda cricket,” the statement continued.

“This includes game development, high performance, coach/officials education, youth development, women’s cricket and the management of international squads through to match operations.

“The Board felt that David was the most impressive candidate and had both the necessary technical and practical experience required to fill the position.

“During his tenure it is hoped that Bermuda will regain ODI status, long term player development and evolution of player pathways to facilitate long term player development.”

Moore played one game for New South Wales before beginning his coaching career, taking charge of the state’s women’s team from 2001-2002.

He steadily worked his way up the coaching ladder with the Australian Cricket Board, and joined Bennett King at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy (CBCA) in Adelaide in 2002.

The pair then took charge of the West Indies team following Gus Logie’s departure in 2004, and when King resigned from his role as head coach after a disappointing showing in the 2007 World Cup, Moore stepped up to take sole charge of the team.

Issues within West Indies cricket, and a poor tour of England that same year, eventually saw him leave the role and return to Australia to work at the academy in Adelaide.

Bermuda captain David Hemp is one of 21 players who have made themselves available for the upcoming Namibia tour.

Players available for Bermuda’s Namibia tour:

David Hemp (captain), Stephen Outerbridge, Stefan Kelly, Jekon Edness, Irving Romaine, Oliver Pitcher Jr., Rodney Trott, Tamauri Tucker, Jordan DeSilva, Justin Pitcher, Malachi Jones, Fiqre Crockwell, Chris Foggo, Joshua Gilbert, Regino Smith, Kyle Hodsoll, Ryan Steede, Shannon Raynor, Jim West, Kevin Tucker, David Lovell, Ryane Shepherd