Speaking ahead of West Indies’ Test series against England, the hosts’ chief selector Desmond Haynes has opened up on the philosophy behind his approach to selection.

The former opener took up the role in January, appointed just before West Indies’ 2-1 ODI series loss to Ireland, with his first job to pick the squads for the T20I visit of England which followed.

Speaking to Betway, Haynes explained how a combination of using statistics, watching a cricketer in action, and attempting to judge their character was necessary in selecting the “best possible team”.

“Mainly, [being a good selector] is knowledge of the game, but it’s also identifying talent, because sometimes you can look at stats, and stats don’t really show the true picture,” he said. “If you get the opportunity to see people play, you’ll be able to judge their character.

“I always say that our aim is to select the best players. It doesn’t matter where they come from, it doesn’t matter what format they’re playing. We just want to make sure that when we put a team out there, it’s the best possible team to win that game.

“You look at the character of the players, you look at the way they’re committed to training and cricket in general

“Statistics are important, but as I said to you before, it’s about identifying the talent and looking at the person. I always go back to the character to see if he can play a role for us in the team.

“It’s good to find out about their stats, though, because if they have struggled against spin or the swinging ball, or whatever the case may be, I obviously have to also take that into consideration.”

According to Haynes, it’s important to remain removed from the playing group as a selector, a different approach to that taken by England, with the jobs of head coach and selector combined in early 2021.

“I keep my distance really, because I think that my role is to produce the players, select the players, and then let the coaches deal with the coaching,” Haynes said.

England are favourites to win the first Test, with West Indies having been whitewashed in both series against India on their most recent tour. Haynes said that selectors have to take “some of the blame” for poor performances, but explained how short-term success had to be balanced with a long-term process.

“As a selector, you obviously want to know that the team that you’ve selected have done well out on the field,” he said. “We all feel that we have selected the best side to perform. If they don’t perform, then obviously we take some of the blame as well.

“It’s more of a long-term process. It’s important to give players chances. If someone fails, you have to look at the circumstances: how he failed, how he got out, and so forth.

“But there does come a time when you can only give a person a certain number of chances, and then you have to try somebody else. It’s very important that if you want the best from the player, they realise that there’s competition. They have to do well – if not, somebody has to take their place.”

One issue the West Indies have faced recently is juggling the wants of their most valuable players, who are able to earn high wages in T20 leagues around the world, with the desire to give playing time to those who are less in demand, and therefore more regularly available for international commitments.

“The IPL has a window, so the players are allowed to go and play in it then,” Haynes said. “But where you get the problem is with all the other franchises around the world. Then you’ve got to start looking at how the players are going to balance the commitment to the West Indies and also their hectic schedule.

“That’s why we want more players vying for every position, so that when guys are not available for the West Indies, we’re not scrambling for people to replace them.”

In a word of advice to aspiring young players, Haynes explained how, when big franchise tournaments come knocking, “self-development” shouldn’t be forgotten.

“From my experience, everybody wants to play where there’s big money,” he said. “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.

“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.”

West Indies have a surfeit of cricketers talented in the shortest format, but there is an increasing divergence between those who find success in Test cricket and those able to strike it big in T20s. However, Haynes thinks that cricketers should be able to master all types of cricket.

“I believe players should be multi-format cricketers,” he said. “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.”

West Indies are currently ranked outside the top six in all three international formats, and Haynes called on the ICC to do more to find ways of funding the less wealthy teams to ensure cricket remains competitive.

“I do think it’s important for the ICC to look at finding ways that they can assist countries like West Indies, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, those places with limited numbers, to try to find ways to make sure that when they split the pie, some of the smaller countries get a bit more money to help with cricket development,” he said. “I think that’s something that is vital if you really want to have competitive cricket worldwide.”