Desmond Haynes, the new chief selector of the West Indies cricket board, during his latest interview with the Betway team discussed his new role as the lead selector of the Men’s cricket team, the critical pointers in picking players, and the challenges that lie ahead in his next cricketing journey.
Haynes, an iconic opening batsman during his time, has played 116 Tests for the West Indies. His contract as the national selector will end in 2024, and in this period, he will oversee a couple of T20 World Cups as well as a 50-over World Cup which is scheduled to be played in India.
Desmond Haynes as West Indies selector
Haynes was expressive throughout the interview and was vocal that he felt it was the time to give back to West Indies Cricket, so he accepted the position. He has also previously served in a similar capacity for Barbados Cricket in the late ’90s, which would’ve made this decision easier.
While talking about the selection process, Haynes explained that he had got two other parties (the coach and a co-selector) to listen to before picking up the best players in the team. He also expressed that one cannot look at stats to pick a player but see the player’s game to understand their natural character and make decisions based on that.
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Once an iconic opening batsman for the country, Haynes picked game knowledge and talent as the additional critical pointers for any player to be selected to play for the country. Also, he needs to pick players committed to training and cricket in general.
Haynes, though he admitted that statistics play a significant role behind selecting a team, once again stressed the importance of selecting a player based on their character and kept a stance that he will be staying away from the coaching staff as he believes his role is to pick the best players in West Indies cricket.
He further added that he would partly be responsible for the team’s performance on the field, whether good or bad. He highlighted that selecting a team is done by looking at a long-term objective. Therefore, it will be essential to give the selected players a fair amount of time before deciding their replacement as he believes competition will bring the best out of the team.
His exact words from the interview: “When you’re a selector, you’re part and parcel of it. We all want the same goals, we all want to do what is right for West Indies cricket, and it’s not about any individual. As a selector, you want to know that the team you’ve selected has done well out on the field. We all feel that we have selected the best side to perform. If they don’t perform, then obviously we take some of the blame as well.”
He went on to say that the West Indies has talent but less than countries like India & Australia and believes that ICC will need to spend more money in countries with fewer resources to make cricket competitive globally. You can read the complete interview here.
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