Haynes and Greenidge Great Opening Partnership 1978-1991

On Saturday 23 October, the UWI Cave Hill Campus bestowed honorary Doctor of Laws (DLL) degrees upon two distinguished Barbadian and Caribbean stalwarts Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Leo Haynes for their contribution to West Indies cricket.  

Greenidge (born 01/05/51) made his test debut in 1974 against India in Bengaluru, India scoring 93 and 107. He is the eighth (8th) of fourteen (14) West Indians to score a century on test debut. He played 108 matches, 185 innings, 16 not-outs, 7,558 runs at an average of 44.72. His highest score was 226 against Australia in 1991. He scored 19 centuries, 34 fifties (50s), and took 96 catches. His 4 double centuries included one of the greatest innings of 214 not out vs England on the fifth day of the 2nd test at Lord’s 1984. Greenidge and Larry Gomes (92 not out) recorded an unbeaten 287 for the 2nd wicket as the West Indies eclipsed the target of 342 in 66.1 overs at a run rate of 5.19. In the fourth test at Old Trafford of that memorable “Blackwash” 5-0 series, Greenidge scored 223. His last test match was in 1991 against Australia in St. Johns, Antigua.

Greenidge is the 3rd player to score a century in his 100-test match. He scored 149 against England in St. John’s Antigua. The other distinguished players to score a century in their 100th test match are Colin Cowdrey 104; Javed Miandad 145; Alec Stewart 105; Inzamam-ul- Haq 184; Ricky Ponting 120 and 143 not out- Ponting is the only batter to score a century in both innings of his 100 test match-; Graeme Smith 131; Hashim Amla 134 and Joe Root 218.

Greenidge is one of ten (10) West Indies batters to have scored a century in both innings of a test match. Against England in 1976, Greenidge scored 134 and 101 as the West Indies won by 425 runs. The other West Indian batters are George Headley, 114 and 112 vs England, 1930 and 106 and 107 vs England, 1939; Everton Weekes, 162 and 101 vs India,1948; Clyde Walcott, 126 and 110 vs Australia at Port of Spain, 1955 and 155 and 110 vs Australia at Kingston, 1955; Garfield Sobers, 125 and 109 not out vs Pakistan, 1958; Rohan Kanhai, 117 and 115 vs Australia, 1961; Lawrence Rowe, 214 and 100 not out vs New Zealand, 1972; Brian Lara, 221 and 130 vs Sri Lanka, 2001; Kieran Powell, 117 and 110 vs Bangladesh, 2012; and Shai Hope, 147 and 118 not out vs England, 2017.

Greenidge made his ODI debut against Pakistan in the first Prudential World Cup in 1975. His last ODI was against England in 1991. Overall, he played 128 matches, 127 innings, 13 not-outs, and scored 5134 runs at an average of 45.03. His highest score was 133 not out with 11 centuries and 31 fifties (50s). He also took 45 catches. He is 10th in the all-time leading West Indies ODI batters. Greenidge is the first player to score a 100 in his 100th ODI; he scored 102 not out vs Pakistan at Sharjah, 1988.

Desmond Haynes (born 15/2/56) made his test and ODI debut against Australia in 1978. In his test career (1978-1994) he played 116 matches, 202 innings, 25 not outs, scored 7,487 runs at an average of 42.29. His highest score was 184 vs England at Lord’s 1980. He recorded 18 test centuries and 39 fifties (50s). He also took 39 catches.

Haynes and along with South African Dean Elgar carried their bat 3 times in completed test innings. His unbeaten innings were 88 vs Pakistan, 1986; 75 vs England, 1991, and 143 vs Pakistan, 1993. The other West Indians to carry their bat unbeaten in completed test innings are Frank Worrell 191 vs England 1957; Conrad Hunte 60 vs Australia, 1965; Christopher Gayle 165 vs Australia, 2009; and Kraigg Brathwaite 142 vs Pakistan, 2016.

Whereas Greenidge (7558 runs) is the 5th highest West Indies test runs scorer behind Brian Lara (11912 runs); Shivnarine Chanderpaul (11867 runs); Vivian Richards (8540 runs) and Garfield Sobers (8032 runs), Haynes (7487) is the 7th.

Haynes scored 148 on his ODI debut against Australia at St. John’s in 1978. Forty-three (43) years later, it remains the highest ODI debut score. Haynes’ 148 is also the 2nd century in ODIs after England’s Dennis Amiss 103 vs Australia at Manchester, 1972. Overall, he played 238 matches, 237 innings, 28 not-outs, 8648 runs at an average of 41.37. His highest score was 152 not out. He scored 17 centuries and 57 fifties. He also took 13 catches.

He is 4th on the list of all-time West Indian ODI batters behind Christopher Gayle (10,425 runs); Brian Lara (10348 runs) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (8778 runs).

Greenidge and Haynes hold the record for the highest overall partnership for test openers. Between 1978 and 1991, they batted in 148 innings, 11 not-outs, scored 6482 runs at an average of 47.31. Their highest partnership was 298 vs England in 1990. This is the joint 15th highest opening partnership in all test matches. They had16 century partnerships and 26 fifties (50s). They are ranked ahead of Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden (Australia) 5655 runs; Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss (England) 4711 runs; Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) 4469 runs and Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag (India) 4412 runs.

In ODI, Haynes and Greenidge are ranked 3rd in the all-time list of opening partnership runs in a career. Between 1979 and 1991 they batted in 102 innings, 4 not-outs, and scored 5150 runs at an average of 52.55. Their highest partnership was 192 not out, with 15 centuries and 24 fifties (50s). They are ranked after Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar (India) 6609 runs at an average of 49.32 and Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden (Australia) 5372 runs at an average of 48.39.