‘Haynes, Sarwan should be helping with batting’

West Indies’ batting failures in their One-Day International series against Ireland should prompt changes in the coaching staff, according to one former selector.

The Caribbean side earned just ten ICC World Cup Super League points out of a possible 30 in losing their latest rubber at home against the Irish.

In those matches, the Windies failed to bat out their full 50 overs and in the second and third ODIs they mustered totals of 229 and 212 respectively. And according to former Trinidad and Tobago Red Force chairman of selectors Tony Gray, batting coach Monty Desai must take responsibility.

“You have to fire the batting coach because he has not been doing a good job at all,” Gray told the Express yesterday. “What we have seen is some batsmen coming into the game and they are depreciating in talent and confidence. They are developing poor habits.

“The were not perfect in coming into the team but you’ve seen people like Roston Chase, Shai Hope, (Nicholas) Pooran is struggling with technical issues that have not been rectified and the game awareness skills are not there with our batsmen.”

Gray added: “The deficiencies in our batsmen are too many — mental problems, confidence problems. The batting has not improved, it’s gotten worse. So if we are hiring people to make things better and they have gotten worse, then you have to remove them.”

Asked whether head coach Phil Simmons should also bear responsibility for the poor results, Gray added: “If we lose to Ireland, we have to look at the coaching staff and then we have to assess and review the head coach and the other coaches as well.”

Gray also questioned the use of former West Indies players Desmond Haynes and Ramnaresh Sarwan as selectors. He proposed different roles for the pair.

“We need specificity as it relates to all aspects of our game, especially with our batting,” Gray began. “So now we have put the Honourable Dr Desmond Haynes in the lead selector’s position along with Ramnaresh Sarwan and we have problems with our batting. We should have put Dr Desmond Haynes as batting director throughout the region when he was shortlisted and didn’t become head coach and assign two qualified and certified coaches with him, looking at all aspects of batsmanship at all levels,” he said.

He added: “Sarwan also should have been dealing directly with the young batsmen of the region.”

Going back to the role of Haynes and his assistant coaches under the Gray plan he said: “They will be doing masterclasses, they will be reviewing technical issues; they will be talking about game awareness experiences; they will be having profound discussions with all the coaches, especially when it pertains to the batting. They will be talking about fitness levels and concentration when it comes to batting and during their masterclass they will be having interactive discussions with young batsmen. Also they will be in practice sessions, reviewing and advising the coaches throughout the region.”

Gray added further of his former West Indies teammate: “With the institutional memory of the Honourable Dr Desmond Haynes who has come from a huge and long culture of success, we have missed the boat in not utilising him or Sir Gordon Greenidge to directly deal with our batsmen throughout the region. We wasting his huge experience.

“We cannot maximise his knowledge as a lead selector because that is not directly dealing with the batsmen of the region. Selectors are supposed to be getting the finished product at senior team level and we have seen unequivocally that the product is not finished by a long way.” (DailyExpress)