St. John's, Antigua: Stuart Law is stepping down as coach of the West Indies in December after their cricket tours of India and Bangladesh.

Law announced his resignation on Friday, saying he's going to take charge of Middlesex in England from January on a four-year contract to be closer to his family.

Law, a former Australia batsman who coached Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, has been the West Indies coach since February 2017.

"I have had to make the difficult decision to leave my role of head coach with CWI," Law said in a statement released by Cricket West Indies. "It has been very enjoyable, and I believe we have made tremendous strides forward as a team during the past two years."

Under Law, the West Indies won test series against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. One of his nine wins in 32 tests was the West Indies' first in England in 17 years, a chase of 322 at Headingley.

But in one-day internationals, the team failed to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy, and had to qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

In Twenty20s, there were eight wins in 19 matches.

Jimmy Adams, CWI director of cricket, and Johnny Grave, chief executive, were disappointed Law was leaving, but sympathized.

"I believe that we have made real progress under his leadership," Grave said.

He added they will begin the search for a new coach immediately.