Everybody wants to play where there’s big money: Desmond Haynes

Once a legendary cricketer, Desmond Haynes, is currently the chief selector of the West Indies men’s ticket team. In the growing age of franchise cricket, Hayne is involved in doing the difficult job of selecting players while most of them are inclined towards lucrative paycheques in the T20 leagues.

As the landscape changes thick and fast, Haynes admitted that it is quite normal for cricketers to improve their standard of living playing in cash-rich leagues. However, he believes that if a cricketer can improve their game, the financial aspect will take care of itself.

Speaking to Betway Insider, Desmond Haynes said:

“From my experience, everybody wants to play where there’s big money. At the end of the day, everybody’s wanting to improve their standard of living. But I always say to them, it is good to realise that you’ve got aspirations to get into the big leagues, but it’s also very important for you to work on becoming a good cricketer. If you do that, the financial side will look after itself.”

He added:

“It is important to focus more on your ability, to keep working and also to look at self-development. You should always try to be knowledgeable about the game, try to seek information, try to pick the brains of some of the legends and some of the senior players. I guarantee that if you do that – do the right things, really look after yourself, and make sure that you’re fit – you will make a lot of money from the game.”

Meanwhile, with the fast-growing T20 format, the other formats have struggled to keep up the pace. There has been a lot of debates with players struggling to adjust to all three formats. The West Indies legend feels India and New Zealand are showing the path a good Test player can play any formats.

“I believe players should be multi-format cricketers. If you’re a good player, you can play any form of the game. The players are the ones who make the decision on what format they want to play, but India and New Zealand are showing that if you’re a very good Test cricketer, you can play any form of the game,” he concluded.

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