Australian Bennett King has resigned as West Indies coach following the team's failure in this year's World Cup. The West Indies Cricket Board said in a statement that it had "accepted with regret" the resignation of the 42-year-old from Queensland. King's decision leaves West Indies without a coach 24 days before the team plays a Test match at Lord's. However, he will remain employed by the WICB until the end of May to help establish the West Indies academy. King, whose contract was due to run until November, had been in charge since October 2004. "Mr King was responsible for establishing and managing the Australian academy and developed the basic plan for a WICB academy structure," the WICB statement added. "His presence...will provide us with an opportunity to better understand the challenges facing the board as it implements the new structure." Ken Gordon stays The statement confirmed that WICB President Kenneth Gordon also tendered his resignation but was persuaded to reconsider his decision. "Mr Gordon did write to the executive committee of the WICB on 17 April advising that he intended to resign. He was requested to reconsider his decision and agreed to do so for the time being," it said. "There will be a meeting of the full board on Sunday, where possible dislocation will be assessed and his final decision made." King hinted at his departure prior to last Saturday's World Cup match against England in Barbados. "I think it's important for coaches to try and plan for people that are coming in, if that's the case," he said. "I've got a family, a wife and three children, who have followed me halfway across the world. I've got to keep their best interests in mind as well." Under King, the team has been beset by off-field problems, including a drawn-out dispute over sponsorship and contracts. And on the field they have won just one of 21 Tests, and exited the World Cup after four successive defeats in the Super 8 phase. With captain Brian Lara having retired from international cricket on Sunday, the captain for the England tour will be the Guyanese batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan. King is the seventh coach to step down following elimination from the World Cup - the others are Greg Chappell (India), Dav Whatmore (Bangladesh), Duncan Fletcher (England), Adrian Birrell (Ireland), Peter Cantrell (Netherlands) and Andy Pick (Canada). He succeeded John Buchanan as Queensland coach, winning the first-class domestic trophy in Australia in 1999-2000, his first season in charge. He won the same trophy in each of the following two seasons before accepting a new role to coach the Australian academy. Fast bowler Ian Bradshaw, 32, has announced his retirement from international cricket after playing 62 ODIs and five Tests. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com