The words could have come from a host of Ulster cricket enthusiasts but they came from one of the most respected batsmen in the history of West Indies cricket and there was more than a familiar ring to the sentiments, but just as predictable was the barrage of criticism that followed.
The Nation newspaper in Barbados quoted the former West Indies and Barbados
opener as saying; "The only way our cricket is going to get better is if the West Indies Cricket Board introduces foreign players to our regional competition. It is very difficult to strengthen it at the present moment playing amongst ourselves all the time. The best way to improve our domestic cricket is to get overseas players to play in a three to five-year plan."
This admission will come as a major shock to cricket followers all over the world and even within the Caribbean region. Haynes is a highly-respected authority on the game and it came as a major shock that such a distinguished personality should deliver a damming condemnation on islands that have been renowned for producing hundreds of cricket stars over the years. Indeed the small island of Barbados alone can justly lay claim to be the world's finest cricket nursery having produced amongst others, such legends as the great Sir Garfield Sobers, the famous three 'Ws' Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Everton Weekes and Sir Clyde Walcott, Sir Conrad Hunte, 'Big Bird' Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall, Seymour Nurse, Gordon Greenidge and Haynes himself.
Perhaps therein lies the heart of Desmond's frustration, given that his generation and the one before it, ruled world cricket, but poignantly left a legacy that successors have failed to match. It has been an awesome responsibility to try and emulate their achievements, and despite the presence of world stars like Lara, Gayle and Chanderpaul, West Indies cricket has slumped to an all-time low in recent times and former stars like Haynes are starting to look for solutions outside the box rather from within.
The appointment of Australians Rex Bennett and then John Dyson as National Coaches were the first admissions that outside expertise could be an asset, but even those appointments were met with passionate resistance from a cricket community that desperately wants to get its cricket back on the rails with West Indians at the helm.
Haynes has played cricket in Ulster at least twice and would be well aware of the involvement of overseas professionals in the local game. However, what he may not fully appreciate is that there are two sides in this contentious debate and neither is likely to give an inch in support of the other. This has been our experience in Ulster cricket and not surprisingly the anti overseas players lobby in Barbados was just as quick to take up the mantle and criticize this strategy as their Ulster contemporaries.
Perhaps the strongest argument against Desmond's call is the fact that Australia and South Africa currently dominate world cricket without outside players, yet England continues to struggle despite having them in the county scene for over fifty years. Or maybe Desmond is looking towards the Indian model and the power of money in attracting the best players from all over the world to the Indian Premier League. Therein lies the real crux of cricket 'development.' You can do most things if you have the money.
Isn't that the same in local cricket as well?
Clarence Hiles
Editor
