Greenidge and Haynes: The interview

When you think of Test opening partnerships, everyone thinks of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. HUW TURBERVILL tried to prise open their defences and encountered great knowledge and dry wit…

Can you describe each other please…

Greenidge He’s more of a rogue!

Haynes [laughs] We had different temperaments…

Greenidge I went to school in England, and that was helpful for my game – and the West Indies did not ask me to play for them until I was about 23…

Haynes He had very much more of a professional approach, with that experience in county cricket [with Hampshire], but for me, I’d been playing local cricket, and then suddenly came into four-day cricket. I played for West Indies after playing two or three first-class games, so I never had that experience in the county set-up, knowing a lot about bowlers. I had only played against two sides!

Greenidge His game was very different. It makes me think of the present crop of players, actually – they don’t seem to be able to, and probably cannot, mature the way Desmond did in such a short space of time. They have played more cricket than he did, but the unfortunate thing is that they are rushed straight into international cricket, the same as Desmond, but he was a much quicker learner… he had to be, because he wanted to play, he was eager, and that drive was there. I am not sure it is the same with the present crop of players. Maybe what they are seeking is more than just wanting to play the game. They are getting paid well, given what they are asking for, but years ago, we had to band together, we had to play to get paid. We did not have retainer contracts and things like that. That is the difference between us and them – we really had to want the job, and to play cricket and represent West Indies.

What about techniques?

Greenidge Des was strong off the back foot when he started, but strong at both by the end… I was more a front-foot player… Sir Viv [Richards] and Richie [Richardson], they pulled better than me…

What about your understanding – did you have to work at it?

Haynes I think we had a good understanding, yes. Early on I never really tried to rival Gordon. I always accepted he was No.1. Because Gordon learned his cricket in England he was more a front-foot player, but for me everything was on the back foot – you got a lot of balls flying across your head and shoulders [in the Caribbean] so I had to play back a lot. But I think Gordon’s overall game – his ability to play spin as an opening batsman, ability to play medium-pace and so on, was fantastic. West Indies should have had a better exit plan – it could have been that Viv, when he was retired, would have stayed on for a couple of years, and helped some of the youngsters – just for a year or two, it wasn’t going to kill us. They should have said to Gordon, when he was going, he could have batted down the order, made us more solid, and helped a new young opener settle in… a transition period. They took the whole belly out of the animal.

You are clearly friends, but was there a rivalry?

Greenidge No, no, no – he is just an acquaintance!

Haynes [laughing] We always had a very good relationship based on mutual respect. He was No.1, I never tried to outdo  him; sometimes I might be playing very well, so I tried to cash in, but overall, as far as I was concerned, Gordon was the better player.

Greenidge I don’t think he is telling the truth – he always wanted to take the No.1 spot, open the batting!

Haynes [laughs] He told me he was coming to the end of his career, so I said, why don’t you give me the chance to face the first ball? And he said, look at the scoreboard, they are going to have to change it, it will be too much work!

Greenidge I like the guy a lot, but that was my position. If you want my position you are going to have to take it, I can’t just give it you!

Haynes Of course! [big laughs]

^{Only two pairs have added more runs in partnership than Haynes and Greenidge}

Did you ever sense that the crowd was impatient for Viv to come in?

Greenidge I don’t think the thought came into our minds. We had a job to do, we had to lay the foundations – build that platform between you that was going to help the team, so that those coming in after you would have an easier job. Of course you want to score the runs and do well. We wanted to stamp our authority!

Did the opposition fast bowlers want to take revenge on you after the pounding their batting had received?

Haynes They always tried to do. I remember talking to New Zealand’s John Wright. He figured that the strength of our team was we had a strong opening pair with four fast bowlers. He said that was really important.

Which opposition bowlers did you respect the most?

Haynes I always use to rate Richard Hadlee. If you were out of form he was going to get you early, because he was one fast bowler who would make you play at the ball early in the innings. Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson were going to bowl fast, but they were going to bowl a few halfway down the pitch. You would get the chance to leave it alone, sway, duck a few, see a few outside the off stump. After a few overs you would start getting used to the pace and bounce of the wicket. But Hadlee was always at you. If he has six balls at you, he’d make you play three or four.

Greenidge Yes, Hadlee, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan… Right on the spot. It really helped us mature and develop our games. My appreciation for the great man, Sir Richard, actually came later, when he cut down his run-up and became a Malcolm [Marshall] type of bowler. He was on the spot and moved the ball so consistently, both ways. That was the beauty of the guy.

I was 12 when you destroyed England at Lord’s in 1984, Gordon. [West Indies chased down 342 in under a day, losing only one wicket with Greenidge making 214 not out.] It still gives me nightmares…

Greenidge That was not planned or talked about. It was a lot of runs in a short time. I just had to play the way I know, be aggressive, and see what happened later on in the day. Unfortunately Desmond got run out [for 17]. He was a little too slow, tried to take off for a run… I had to send him back. One of the few bad calls he made.

Haynes For the record, you know it was his call, right?

Greenidge He would say that anyhow! It was just one of those days…

It was your savage cutting that will stand in my memory…

Greenidge England tried to bowl at me off stump, outside off – fortunately they didn’t quite get it right that day. My consistency was unbelievable that innings. Ian Botham dropped me at gully off Bob Willis, but every other shot came off well, found the gaps. It just rolled on very nicely. You don’t get tired when you are scoring runs. Each time I tried a particular stroke it came off.

Desmond, your finest hour was your 184 at the same venue in 1980…

Haynes Yes, my Test best – 184 – it was my first Test at Lord’s. I made 92 on the first day and added another 92 on the second. As a youngster, growing up in Barbados and knowing so much about Lord’s… that sat nicely!

Graham Gooch had knocked England into shape for the 1989/90 series…

Greenidge He was a stubborn player. I have seen a few good players, Goochie, Lamb… but my favourite was Alec Stewart. Because at the time our bowlers were really firing and fired up. I saw him play a seriously courageous knock [in 1990]. I thought, yep, that is the way I like to see a batsman play – that is the way I would like to play. He was extremely courageous the way he attacked our bowlers in that series. Later he got back-to-back hundreds in Barbados [1994]. Another player like that was Mohinder Amarnath. I like to see players who are going to challenge the bowlers, not just sit back and wait for it to happen…

^{Greenidge scored 7,558 Test runs}

In the crucial fifth Test of 1989/90 you put together your biggest stand [298] to help West Indies come back from the dead [1-0 down after three Tests]…

Haynes Antigua was always a very good batting wicket. It was the first time we were batting together that we felt we were never going to get out. We just thought we were going to bat the two days. Gordon got a little complacent and hit the ball to Gladstone [Small] at fine leg and he was more interested in throwing the ball at my end than his. That was the only way we were going to get out!

Greenidge He ran me out that innings.

You had an amazing ODI record together…

Haynes We enjoyed the 50-over game. In those days you would play a Test match one day and a 50-over one-day international the next. You had to be able to adapt…

Would you have enjoyed T20?

Greenidge Yeah! Definitely – I would have been able to buy a new house! Viv and the guys were playing shots like that back then – hitting the ball inside out, and reverse sweeping. It’s nothing new. Cricket needed a lift, an injection, though. I have to say I began to really love T20 when it started when Stanford came along. Unfortunately he didn’t go on! But it started to give me a different perspective on the game because I’d finished playing. It was beautiful seeing the territories representing themselves: Antigua, Jamaica…

Haynes It is different in the Caribbean now, with franchises. I do not like seeing Barbados players playing for Trinidad, and so on. I don’t agree with that at all. Why do you have to take somebody from Guyana to play for Barbados? We are islands, with different governments; players have to leave their families, it is disruptive… It will be different in England, you just drive up the motorway, up to Yorkshire. The impact may not be so great.

Are you anxious about West Indies’ Test future?

Haynes We are fearful of Test cricket dying because every day we see writing on the wall. It would be sad to see Joe Root only playing T20; you would not realise the ability that the young guy has. In Tests he is getting short balls, you can judge his character. He’s batting for long periods. Playing on the subcontinent against the Indian spinners. You get the impression that this guy is the real package. That is why it’s important to preserve it – the true test.

Do you stay in touch with your old counties?

Greenidge I had 19 years with Hampshire, had some good moments. I opened with Barry Richards – taught him all he knew [chuckles]. I would like to have been given the chance to assist with the youngsters more towards the end of my playing days…

Haynes I was very happy Middlesex took the Championship. The last time they won I was playing [1993]! I’m still a big supporter – I went into the dressing room this season and met Angus Fraser and some of the players. I learned a lot of my cricket there – Mike Gatting was my captain and he was very good to me, he kept me involved. He utilised my knowledge and was quick to use me in every capacity. That is not always the case when senior pros come to a county.

This article was published in the February 2017 edition of The Cricketer - the home of the best cricket analysis and commentary, covering the international, county, women's and amateur game

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