Haynes appointed batting consultant to West Indies team

Wednesday, 20 April 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced that legendary former opening batsman Desmond Haynes has joined the West Indies team as Batting Consultant for the 2011 home series.

Haynes, an outstanding opener in his playing days, will be working with the West Indies senior team batsmen under head coach Ottis Gibson.

He was part of the Windies camp in Barbados last week and he will be engaged for the duration of the home series. Following the home series the WICB will commence the search for a full time batting coach for the West Indies team.

Haynes said: "I have always said I wanted to be involved in West Indies cricket and help in any way I could. 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."

He added: "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. This is a chance to make a contribution and I'm pleased to be given the opportunity to be involved in West Indies cricket once more."

In his career for West Indies, Haynes played 116 Test matches and made 7,487 runs at an average of 42.29 per innings. He made 18 centuries. He also played 238 ODIs and made 8,648 runs, at 42.37 per innings with 17 centuries.

Haynes had worked with South African all rounder Jacques Kallis, batsman Herschelle Gibbs and young West Indian batsman Darren Bravo among other international cricketers.