ST JOHN’S, Antigua CMC – West Indies selector Robert Haynes has urged regional batsmen to adopt more patience and judgement in building their innings.
Speaking during the just concluded ‘A’ team ‘Test’ in Antigua, Haynes pointed out that batmen were putting too much emphasis on boundaries instead of taking time to properly gauge conditions. “We struggle on the slow pitches and it is evident in regional cricket where our spinners dominate, so it tells me that the batsmen must assess the conditions better, think about building their innings and not just focus on hitting boundaries,” said Haynes, who played eight One-Day Internationals for West Indies between 1989 and 1991.
“We’re going for boundaries but we need to pay greater attention on getting more singles and twos. I saw teams in the Regional Super50 in Guyana score below 200 runs but facing 150 and more dot balls so what that tells me is that the batsmen are not focused on keeping the score ticking.”
The Regional Super50 produced relatively low scores when it was played last month, with just one total over 250 in the competition, while there were three totals under 100, with the final serving up a winning target of 119 after Trinidad and Tobago were dismissed for a paltry 118 on a slow, low pitch at Providence.
Haynes said batsmen needed to learn from veteran West Indies left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul who he said is a master at adapting to new conditions.
“The young batsmen need to take a leaf out of Shiv’s book. He’s a true professional and every innings he plays in Test cricket is a lesson in batting. He demonstrates how to play based on the conditions and how to construct an innings,” the Jamaican pointed out.
Chanderpaul unfurled a brilliant 118 last Sunday, in the first innings of the just concluded first Test against India on a difficult pitch at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium.
Haynes said while there were some signs of improvement in the senior Windies side, there was still a lot left to be done to get batsmen up to scratch.
“In recent times we are beginning to see in the Test team that the batsmen like Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo are beginning to apply themselves and understand their role but there is more work which needs to be done to get us to where we want to be as a team,” Haynes said.