Desmond Haynes to help struggling West Indian batsmen
One of the greatest opening batsmen of all time, Desmond Haynes, is set to take over as the batting consultant of the West Indian team after the end of the series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 that starts with a one-off T20 match at Gros Islet
on April 21, 2011.
Haynes, who is was hailed as a world class opening batsman of his time played 116 Tests for the West Indies in a career spanning 17 years.
He scored 18 Test hundreds and for a long time he was the leading century scorer in One Day Internationals (ODIs). The stroke-player with a penchant of hitting boundaries through the leg-side, struck 17 hundreds in the shorter format
of the game.
Haynes formed one of the greatest opening pairs in the history of the game with Gordon Greenidge. They used to smack the shine off the new ball for the likes of Vivian Richards to prosper later in the order.
Haynes was part of arguably the greatest West Indian team of all time that beat almost all opposition with sheer disdain during the late seventies all the way till the mid-nineties.
After his appointment Haynes told West Indian media that he had wanted to stay involved with the cricketing aspect of West Indies Board. He added that his aim is to help the younger lot, which has found international cricket too demanding.
"I have always said I wanted to be involved in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 cricket and help in any way I could", he said. "This is a chance to help the young players with their development. I just want to see the players get better as we aim for improvement
at all levels in West Indies cricket, and get the team back to the halcyon days".
The task won’t be easy for the veteran. The current selection panel of the cricket board has inducted many youngsters, who have limited or no experience of international cricket.
On the other hand, the board chose to leave out Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shivnarine-Chanderpaul-c90073 for the first two One-Dayers and include Lendl Simmons and Kirk Edwards.
One of the main hopes of the West Indian is the left handed batsman Darren Bravo, who has been likened with the legendary Brian Lara. Haynes played with Lara in the early part of his career and Bravo would be one of the players he
would be spending considerable time with when he takes over the role.
Haynes has remained in the fray after quitting the game, with West Indian cricket, however, this would be his first coaching job. His previous assignments have included administration, work as a WICB director, as well as head of the
selection committee.
There could be fears of a clash between Haynes and head coach, Ottis Gibson, while Haynes is an all time great, Gibson was an ordinary medium pace bowler and at best a handy batsman. There is a huge gulf between the standard of cricket
that the two played, and they can be on course of a collision if differences emerge.
Initially though Haynes has brushed aside all these concerns, he stated that he was happy to be part of the management, acknowledging at the same time that Ottis Gibson is the head.
"I am happy to be part of the team management unit, headed by Ottis, and I believe I can also help the players with the mental aspect of their game and the way they go about their cricket in general".
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