Gordon Williams, Gleaner Writer

Haynes - File

Members of the new panel of West Indies cricket selectors are keen to expand their duties by widening communication channels with regional players, coaches and management.

Former Jamaica and West Indies legspinner, Robert Haynes, who, along with Trinidadian, Raphick Jumadeen joined incumbent Guyanese Clyde Butts last month to form the panel, said the selectors realise that countries in the region need more input from them - and vice versa - to aid the development of the game.

"The (West Indies Cricket Board) is looking definitely where the selectors are more involved in West Indies cricket, not just selecting the team," Haynes explained recently, while on tour with the team in Toronto, Canada.

"What the board stresses on as well is that the selectors must be more visible and must be more approachable and we have to communicate better with not just the players, but also the management staff of each team."

Displeasure

Controversy over West Indies team selection surfaced during the recent Australian tour of the Caribbean. Captain Chris Gayle publicly expressed displeasure with choices made by the panel, which then included Butts and former West Indies greats, Andy Roberts of Antigua and Barbadian Gordon Greenidge. Team coach John Dyson from Australia is also a selector.

The West Indies were soundly beaten by the world's top team, 2-0 in the Test series and blanked in the one-day internationals (ODI).

Gayle subsequently resigned as captain, but later changed his mind and led the team to victory in a tri-nation ODI tournament in Toronto against Canada and Bermuda.

There the captain expressed satisfaction with the squad chosen by the new panel and also appeared optimistic that communication with the selectors would improve.

Haynes said the new panel is committed to mending fences as well.

Management team

"Yes, the board definitely spoke to us and said that we have to sit down and have dialogue with the captain, with the coach and also the management team," said the 43-year-old former national coach who took 221 wickets in 65 first class matches for Jamaica, which he first represented as a teenager, and played eight ODIs for the West Indies.

However, Haynes, who admitted that the West Indies needed to do more to improve the players in theregion, such as increasing the number of games each season and providing proper cricket academies, made it clear that the team is expected to honour the rules.

"It's also for the captain to understand that, you know, that he is the captain of the West Indies team and it is very important for him to obey and to follow instructions and see the mandate that the West Indies board has put forward and know that this is the way to go and this is the future in terms of development," he explained.

SUPPORT

Haynes said Gayle and the team could count on added support from the new selectors. In the past, some players have complained of being excluded from the team without knowing the reason and then abandoned by selectors.

"All these things will change," Haynes said. "The chairman (Butts) pointed out to us, myself and Jumadeen, that whenever a player is selected we will talk to him, con-gratulate him, explain what it is we expect from him and see how best we could work with him.

"And also if that same player gets dropped, it is our duty to sit that player down and also talk to him and explain to him why it is that he got dropped and probably get a report from the coach stating what it is he needs to work at. So when he goes back to his territory he has things to work with."

At least one selector from the panel is now expected to accompany each touring West Indies team. The entire panel was scheduled to be in Florida, United States (US) for a tournament involving Caribbean teams next month.

"This is new," Haynes, who is on a two-year contract, said last month. "All the selectors first time, will see all the players on show."

However, the 50-overs tournament will no longer take place in the US. Plans are being made to host it in the Caribbean by mid-November, with possibly separate countries accommodating two groups of five teams each. The US, Canada, West Indies under-19 and a combined colleges team from the region are being tabbed to join six Caribbean nations. The top two from each group will play the semi-finals with the winners contesting the final.

Demand players

Haynes acknowledged that talk of insularity, where territories demand players from that country be selected even when their records suggest otherwise and harshly criticise players from other places, is still a contentious issue in the West Indies. But the selectors do not plan to bow to any outside pressure, he said.

Asked specifically about the composition of the squad to Canada, which should have moved on to the since-postponed ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, where it would have been joined by top player Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Haynes was clear that those 15 players were the best available.

"If, for instance, Barbados have five or six best players at the time, to represent the West Indies, that is what we're going to do - pick the best players," he insisted.

"It's just that right now, when you look at West Indies cricket, when you look at the best team to represent us, there's eight Jamaicans in it."

Haynes also addressed the issue that players who do not offer maximum effort for the West Indides are often selected. He is hoping that the closer the selectors get to the players, the better they will be able to assess their attitude.

"What I have noticed and seen in West Indies cricket over the years, before becoming a selector, is that (some) players weren't giving a hundred per cent," he explained.

Dialogue

"Yes it is bad, but what I'm saying, from my point of view, is that players will probably get in a situation where there are times when they are supposed to be dominating, like a session, and they probably ease up or relax, you know, and these things do happen.

"So probably what we ought to do as selectors is to sit with this player and find out what is the reason these things happen. So, we will have to sit, have dialogue with the coach, spend more time watching practice, spend more time around the players, watching them on and off the field. Because we must have an understanding of who we are picking and we must realise that West Indies cricket has been in the doldrums for a very long time, and we have to try and find some kind of formula that will take us out of this."

That plan, Haynes insisted, should not include forcing unprepared cric-keters into the West Indies team, currently near the cellar of world rankings, or a constant turnover of the squad without giving players a fair chance to shine. The talent in the region is there, Haynes insisted, it just has to be given the proper support. Yet consistent poor performances, lack of proper work ethic and attitude, will ensure players are omitted.

"We're not going to be selecting players that we think are going to go out there and try and let down the West Indies," Haynes said.

Gordon Williams is a Jamaican journalist based in the United States.