Haynes wants to help WI cricket

FORMER West Indies cricket opening batsman Desmond Haynes has offered his assistance to help develop the game regionally. Haynes was speaking during the Cotton Tree Foundation Charity Golf Tournament at the St Andrew’s Golf Course, Moka, Maraval last Wednesday. Asked about the state of WI cricket, the former Barbados and WI captain said: “I think that it’s very important for us to really analyse the whole structure of West Indies cricket, and the state of West Indies cricket now.  I believe, we    do have some problems.” Haynes, who along with countryman Gordon Greenidge formed the game’s most durable and consistent opening pair, continued: “We do have some problems in the sense where we do have some very talented players but the structure of our cricket needs to be addressed seriously.

“Look, these guys are talented but they don’t get the exposure, they don’t get the opportunity to play in England anymore, there’s not a professional league in the Caribbean so we need to really address that,” Haynes added. The 48-year-old Haynes, who is currently attached to the Ministry of Education in his native Barbados and also holds the post as chairman of the Barbados National Sports Council, is concerned with the individuals in charge of grooming players. “We need to get the ex-cricketers involved in the whole development of our cricket,” he pleads. Haynes, who scored 7,487 runs in 116 Tests at an average of 42.29 and 8,648 runs at an average of 41.37 in 238 one-day internationals, said,  “I’m willing to assist West Indies cricket in any way possible.”

The former Barbados senator noted that his court action against the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), which dates back to 1995, may have worked against him. But he suggests that “at the end of the day, a lot of people would understand the situation between Desmond Haynes and the West Indies Cricket Board is coming to a closure and I’m quite willing to offer my assistance to West Indies cricket in any way possible.” Concerning the future of West Indies cricket, Haynes stressed: “I think I can offer my assistance to the openers, and to the batsmen in general. “But, at the end of the day, we need to start to talk about the West Indies greats who have caused WI cricket to be what it used to be, to be involved in the whole development of WI cricket,” he ended.