10 years and five substandard coaches - Roger Harper, Gus Logie, Bennett King, John Dyson and David Williams - later, the Windies coaching set-up has eventually, thankfully, taken a turn for the better.

The weekend's hearsay of Ottis Gibson's potential appointment at the helm of the Windies' coaching unit brought an anticipant flutter of excitement, with Monday's official announcement appeasing my long-held hope: West Indian revolution.

Having grown up trying to emulate the iconic Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Ian Bishop in the back garden, neighbourhood park and school yard, my latter years have been aggrieved with the sight of would-be pace aces - Reon King, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins, et al - undoing all that was once great about the Ambrose-Walsh era.

For close on a decade Cameron Cuffy, Corey Collymore, Franklyn Rose and the substandard like laboured, loped and lobbed their way through many a spell, offering flashes of brilliance coupled mostly with periods of ineptitude, and in the process dug a hole so deep for the future of Caribbean fast bowlers, fans were left to wonder if the new generation of speedsters would ever be able to claw their way out.

Whereas the promising emergence of Kemar Roach, Gavin Tonge and - dare I suggest - Under-19 World Cup sensation Jason Holder affords the expectations of the West Indian public respite from series upon series of ineffective fast bowling, Gibson's graduation from Andy Flower's sidekick to the pinnacle of the Windies' set-up affords them sustainability.

Former pace spearhead Gibson is far better placed to take a nation steeped in a fast-bowling core forward than Harper, Logie, Dyson (erstwhile batsmen), Williams (has-been wicketkeeper) or King (once lowly club cricketer). Yes, Gibson's five predecessors enjoyed or endured the help of two-bit bowling consultants here and there, but there is no better tonic than the real McCoy in the right position.

Gibson's complementary refinement of the England attack - James Anderson and Stuart Broad, in particular - on the back of Allan Donald's initial nurturing has afforded England their greatest asset since 2005 Ashes glory rocketed Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard to instant stardom.

The 40-year-old Barbadian, who ended his first-class career less than three years ago, is what the pundits nowadays term 'as a new era coach' and, with his finger on the pulse of the West Indian fast-bowling ranks, is presented with the perfect opportunity to channel his success with England into Roach and company.

Gibson's convincing passage on the South African domestic circuit in the 1990s is testament to the authoritative character and impactful nature of the man. He transformed provincial nobodies, Border, into a competitive bunch that went on to upset many a big gun and, eventually, rear Makhaya Ntini. Leicestershire and Durham will attest to similar accomplishment. And soon, so will the West Indies top brass.

Above all though, West Indies Cricket Board chief executive Ernest Hilaire's recent ode to progression offers the best assurance Windies fans will take from Gibson's arrival.

"Ottis will be the head coach of the WICB, and not just head coach of the senior team. He will have responsibility for coaching right across all of our representative cricket teams," Hilaire told CBC Radio. "We hope that with him responsible for all coaching, he can start outlining to the coaches of all our teams the kind of players and approaches he wants from the players to ensure there is a clear career pathway as they move from the junior ranks to the senior team."

Now that's the most admirable, sustained piece of forward-thinking that has come out of the Caribbean since stop-start Dyson and was ousted...