Bridgetown (Barbados), April 25 (IANS-CMC) West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Ken Gordon says outgoing coach Bennett King's contributions to cricket in the region were 'mixed'.

'My assessment of his performance certainly over the past year, up to about September-October, was that there were mixed results because we did do well,' Gordon told CMC CricketPlus prior to the announcement Monday that the 42-year-old had resigned.

'We did very well in fact in some of the games but since (then) things changed. They have gone downhill and his results have not been as good, but he certainly had a period prior to the end of last year when things went pretty well for him and for the team.'

King, who took up his appointment in December 2004, will remain in office until May 31 to help set up a West Indies academy. His contract was due to expire in November.

In January 2006, the WICB set up a four-member committee to carry out an evaluation exercise on the high-priced coaching staff of King and his fellow Australians - assistant coach David Moore, physiotherapist Stephen Partridge and strength and conditioning co-ordinator Bryce Cavanagh.

The committee is headed by former Jamaica and West Indies wicket-keeper/batsman Jackie Hendriks, who is president of the Jamaica Cricket Association.

Asked if he was happy with the findings of the committee in light of constant calls in some quarters for King's removal, Gordon remarked: 'I thought it was a fair comment in all the circumstances.

'But when this severe analysis and condemnation was made of Bennett King, you had to remember that in that first year of his tenure, he'd had that team for only 22 days of coaching and my statement at the time was that whatever the facts may be about Bennett King and his strength as a coach, we have to bear in mind that he had only 22 days with those players and you can't judge a man in that limited period of time.

'We had to have him over a longer period of time. He has since then been working together with the cricket committee and Clive Lloyd (the chairman) and there is ongoing evaluation,' the WICB president said.

King went into the job with a successful record. He came directly from his position as head of the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Australia, the leading institution of its kind in the world.

He joined the Academy after guiding the Australian State team Queensland to three consecutive championships from 1999 to 2002.

King took over as West Indies head coach from former middle order batsman Gus Logie whose stint ended in success when Brian Lara's team won the Champions Trophy in England in September 2004.

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