King chose not to uproot his family

Australian Bennett King has turned down the chance to become coach of the West Indies.

King spent the last few days discussing a possible move to the Caribbean with his family, but decided instead to remain in his current position as head coach of the Australian Cricket Academy (ACA).

He said: "It wasn't a decision I came to lightly. I decided (that) at this point in time, I'm going to learn much more from the Australian way."

King took over at the ACA in March last year and still has two years to run on his contract.

"It's a unique time in Australian cricket," he continued. "The centre of excellence isn't something the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) has rushed into.

"I want to see how the centre of excellence unfolds. You don't get many opportunities to help shape a country's leading sport. And from that perspective I feel it's hugely important."

We regard it as a great honour for one of our coaches to be approached by the West Indies for that job ACB chief James Sutherland

He said he had thought long and hard before rejecting the West Indies offer.

"It's a high profile job and one with a very high profile side. I can't think of too many higher coaching positions than the West Indies.

"But I did my research and I don't make decisions with my eyes closed."

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced King as their new coach last week "subject to completion of contractual negotiations."

They hoped he would agree to take over in July, with Gus Logie taking charge for home series against Australia and Sri Lanka in the intervening period.

But King always insisted "no terms and conditions had been spoken about or offered."

King and his wife have three children, who are all settled in schools in Brisbane, where he previously worked as coach of the Queensland state side.

Roger Harper was the previous full-time coach of the West Indies team but his contract expired following the World Cup and he was not offered an extension.