Hunte praises 'anchorman' (9 January 1999)

9 January 1999

Hunte praises 'anchorman'

By Tony Cozier in Capetown

Sir Conrad Hunte yesterday identified Daren Ganga, the 20-year-old right-hander on his first tour, as becoming "the anchor" the West Indies badly lack.

"He could do the job as an opening batsman or at No.3," the former West Indies opening batsman and captain said in a newspaper interview.

"He can attack and he knows when a defensive stroke is needed."

The West Indies have had difficulties with their opening batsmen throughout the series against South Africa and resorted to using reserve wicketkeeper Junior Murray in the position in the last two Tests.

Although he was one of the finest opening batsmen of his time, averaging over 46 in his 44 Tests between 1958 and 1968, and he has an intimate knowledge of South African cricket and cricketers, Hunte's advice has been rarely sought during the series

"I have not been asked for help," Hunte said in a newspaper interview here yesterday. "I was the opening batsman for the West Indies for ten years and I think I have something to offer. I have also been in South Africa helping with development for the past seven years."

He pointed out that Desmond Haynes, another great West Indian opening batsman of a later era who played in South Africa for Western Province, had also been in Cape Town during the Test and that team coach Malcolm Marshall had coached Natal for many years.

"They could have called a think-tank with those of us who had been here so that we could help them with conditions in South Africa," Hunte said. "We could have done something to make a difference."

His only contact with one of the opening batsmen had been with Stuart Williams at the request of team management but Williams had been dropped after the Second Test and "didn't get a chance to use the advice".

"After the (Wills International Cup) tournament in Bangladesh, the South Africans had a think-tank with their former greats like Eddie Barlow and Peter Kirsten before the series and they helped coach their fellows on how to deal with the West Indies," Hunte noted. "The West Indies team did nothing extra after Bangladesh. That was the difference between the teams. The team that is better prepared is bound to win."

He felt that the problem within the team was communication. "Either they are not listening or they are listening and not really learning because they have on tour Malcolm Marshall, one of the sharpest thinkers in the game, and manager Clive Lloyd who was one of the great captains," he said.

He credited his own entry into the West Indies team in 1958 to advice from former Barbados and West Indies fast bowler Herman Griffith. He had just returned from England's slow pitches and was struggling for form when Griffith advised him to sharpen his reflexes by having someone throw a ball at him from half the length of the pitch. He went on to score 142 on Test debut against Pakistan.

Hunte, 66, was knighted in the Barbados Independence honours last November. He returns to Barbados later this month to take up a post with the Government.

Source :: The Trinidad Express (https://www.trinidad.net/express/)