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SUNDAY CHRONICLE August 17, 2014
Haynes - Pollard can be future captain
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Desmond Haynes formed a great opening partnership with Gordon Greenidge when West Indies were at the pinnacle of world cricket. Haynes believes that he would have enjoyed Twenty20 (T20) cricket, and that Greenidge would have been fantastic at it. Nishad Pai Vaidya caught up with Haynes on the sidelines of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where he is a mentor with the Barbados Tridents. Desmond Haynes is one of the greatest opening batsmen in the history of the game. In partnership with Gordon Greenidge, he formed a lethal combination at the top and was an integral part of Clive Lloyd’s world beating West Indies team. He is currently the mentor of the Barbados Tridents at the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2014. Barbados Tridents prepare to face Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final of the CPL 2014. In an exclusive chat with CricketCountry, Haynes talks about T20 cricket, its impact, his foundation and a
lot more. Excerpts: CricketCountry (CC): What has been your experience at CPL as a mentor? What has that role brought about for you? Desmond Haynes (DH): It has been a great experience. My role as mentor is to ensure that I assist in any way possible and to discuss how to play the shortest version of the game. I didn’t play T20 cricket, but have been very successful as a one-day cricketer. I know what it is to play the short version of the game and believe that the guys are learning from my experience and used it to the best of their abilities. You’ve got this Barbados Tridents side with some young Barbadians, who would have heard of me and know my role, and you have the internationals as well. So far we have had a very good relationship and that is also because of some good work by our coach here, Robin Singh. CC: What has been the secret to Barbados Tridents’ consistency through the CPL 2014? DH: Last year, when I was coach, we started by
winning four or five games, but we didn’t do very well moving towards the end. But this year, we have been more consistent at the back-end of the tournament. I think it is because of Kieron Pollard’s captaincy as well. He is one guy who would try a lot of things on the ground. He has shown great leadership and hopefully, I would like to see him being the captain of the West Indies at some stage. CC: We hear that you have started a foundation. What do you wish to do through that? DH: It is the Desmond Haynes Foundation and the aim is to raise enough money to help two young players finish their college or university education. They would obviously have a little bit of a cricketing background and one hopes, if they are successful, they come back and make a contribution to the foundation in years to come. My aim is to make sure I raise enough money through any appearances etc. I am trying to find people who can donate funds to the foundation so that we can get two young Barbadians with a cricketing background to go and finish their education.
Kieron Pollard CC: Would you have been keen to play the T20 format? How would you have adjusted to this game? DH: Oh, certainly! I did have the opportunity of playing a few games in England (10 and 30-over encounters for Lashings XI), though one or two were rained out. The way I used to play, I believe I would have been a handful in T20 cricket. If you can play the shorter version of the game and you open the batting, it is a lot easier. In T20 cricket, batting early on gives you more opportunities than batting in the later part of the line-up.
Essequibo Volleyball Association re-established LAST Sunday 11 th July at Onderneeming, Essequibo Coast was yet another momentous achievement for the sport of volleyball in Guyana. The Essequibo Volleyball Association {EVA} was re-established followed by a competition involving four male teams. And on hand to witness the proceedings was President of the Guyana Volleyball Federation {GVF} John Flores along with other executives. The newly resuscitated Essequibo Volleyball Association {EVA} comprise of persons from several teams and active community members. Heading the association is Captain of Mainstay Village, Joel Fredericks as president, vice- president Rabbi Das, treasurer Rodney Williams, former first division player, secretary Ms. Marsha Williams and five committee members rounding off members of the association. The newly elected president, a sport enthusiast, emphatically
expressed his willingness to fast track the development of the sport in the Cinderella County ,and will try his best to ensure the sport is elevated to a very high level in order to compete with Demerara and Berbice. He also stated that he will work closely with the sports coordinators in the regions and relevant organisations in that regard. GVF president John Flores was very elated to have this realised since this was one of his many plans to get all the associations established and functioning. He charged the committee members to help spread the game and be actively involved in supporting the executives. This historic occasion was schedule for July but due to a very hectic schedule it had to be put back. After the business end of the meeting, the competition got started on the outdoor courts where four teams tried to outdo each other but the eventual
GVF president John Flores winner was the Mainstay Village team, which demonstrated much fitness, determination and a winning attitude that resulted in them being victorious and lifted the winning trophy.
CC: When one-day cricket came about, did you find it difficult to adapt to the shorter version? DH: No, it was never difficult for us. We came at a time when one-day cricket was played during a Test series. For example, when we toured Australia, we used to play one Test match and then two fifty-over games followed by a Test match and so forth. It was a situation where if you were smart enough, you should be able to adapt. CC: What about T20 cricket and its impact? DH: Yes, you have to give credit to the guys who play the modern game. The likes of Pollard, Chris Gayle and the other great T20 players, you’ve got to give them credit as they’ve played it very well. The other impact I see in modern cricket is the fielding has improved. That was because of T20 version. It has helped improve the game overall in some aspects. CC: How much of an impact has limited-over cricket had on opening the batting in Test cricket? In recent times, you’ve had attacking openers like Matthew Hayden and Virender Sehwag to name
a few. DH: Yes it is how you adapt. I don’t think T20 cricket would have interfered with anybody with the way how they play Tests. This is because in Tests for example if you have the ball moving around, you have more time to be patient (to get in). But, now if you have a Test match where you have to chase 300 odd, there is a possibility that the teams would get it given the way they play T20 cricket these days. CC: You formed a great opening partnership with Gordon Greenidge. How would you have seen the pair of you don that role in T20 cricket? DH: I think Gordon Greenidge would have been a fantastic T20 cricketer. Imagine, you got Gordon and myself opening the batting and then Viv (Sir Viv Richards) coming at No 3 — that would be a good batting lineup. I think we would have adapted properly. And then Clive Lloyd to come. Batting in the first few overs, you can play some good cricket shots. I think West Indies would have been a very good side. (First Published On Cricket Country).
Simmons takes gold at Goodwill Swim Meet GUYANA ended with five individual medals, that included a gold from Inter Guiana Games gold medalist, Soroya Simmons, as the team racked up 143 points to stand in third place when the first day of competition in the Goodwill Swim Meet came to a close on Friday last in Parimaribo, Suriname. Leading the points tally was Trinidad and Tobago whose 478 points gave them an opening 35 points lead ahead of Suriname. Guyana is just ahead of the 134 points that St. Lucia has, while Barbados is in last place with 131 points. Guyana’s first day medal haul also included a team bronze for Guyana in the Boys’ 11 – 12 and 13 – 14 400m medley relays. Meanwhile, unconfirmed results are that Guyana’s Nathan also picked up another gold after winning the boys 11 – 12 100m breaststroke, when the three day competition continued yesterday in the Dutch country.
Hackett already has silver from the 50m breaststroke in his age category. Clocking 1:11.42s, Simmons slid pass Suriname’s Shanine Hoost who finished just milliseconds behind with 1:11.94s. Oinka George also ensured that Guyana finished with a bronze in the event when she came in just behind Hoost clocking 1:13. However, Hoost managed to outmaster Simmons in the 100m freestyle where her 1:02.37s finish overcame the 1:02.79s clocked by Simmons. The event was won by Suriname’s Gabrielle Breidel in a time of 1:01.47s. Also taking bronze is Anthonio Hussein who finished the boys 11 – 12 100m freestyle in 1:06.47s, defeated only by Trinidadians William Reyes and James Mohamed. Additionally, Accalia Khan won silver in the girls 13 – 14 100m backstroke in a time of 1:17.29s. The regional competition is scheduled to conclude today.