Haynes wants to be new Windies coach

Desmond Haynes
Desmond Haynes

RENALDO MATADEEN

LEGENDARY opener Desmond Haynes has revealed his desire to be the new West Indies coach. With Stuart Law set to leave the position for a job with Middlesex, there is an opening before the Cricket World Cup next year and Haynes wants to be interviewed for the role by the West Indies Cricket Board.

“I hope they will interview me. I am not saying I can take West Indies back to No.1, but I think I can take us back into the world’s top four,” he said to The Cricketer. “I believe the head coach should be working more closely with the coaches in the territories, rather than just working with the players when they reach Test level. The feeder system must be working smoothly, so that the players who arrive at Test level are ready. It is not good them arriving at Test level and realising, ‘Oh, we are not fit enough,’” he continued.

Haynes has already had such a role with the Barbados Tridents in the inaugural edition of the Caribbean Premier League and made it clear grassroots cricket was the problem. Back then, he expressed concerns over the quality of domestic cricket and it seems he wants to now oversee its development thanks to his experience, which saw him score 18 Test centuries and 17 in One Days in one of the game’s best pairings alongside Gordon Greenidge. Haynes believes father-figures and mentors are needed for young players such as Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite, two captains he thinks can help restore the squad to the glory days he lived through.

“The job is about management, it is about helping people work out situations — I can help people know how to handle a situation, how to find the correct levels of concentration. I am not saying a coach has to be someone who has played Test cricket, or a lot of international cricket, but there must be a sense of match intelligence in the dressing room, so he can assist players as situations arise,” he concluded.

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"Haynes wants to be new Windies coach"

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