BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Former Barbados captain and West Indies opener, Desmond Haynes said he had lost “a good friend and a good guy” after news broke that former national all-rounder Neil Phillips had died earlier this week. He was 66.
Haynes, now the lead West Indies selector, was a teammate of Phillips, who played 15 first-class matches for Barbados after making his debut in 1983.
“Neil was a very good friend, and we grew up together in the area and played lots of cricket as young boys,” Haynes said in a tribute. “We both went to trials for the Barbados Under-19 team at the same time.
“I had the privilege of captaining Neil when he played for Barbados. He had a great cricket brain, and I believe he helped a lot of those youngsters at Foundation School while he was working there as a groundsman.
“I have lost a friend and a good guy. I was shocked when I heard of his passing. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. My condolences to his family.”
Phillips was on the verge of retirement from Foundation School, the island’s Under-19 One-day secondary schools champions, where he worked for the past nine years.
Foundation counts among its alumni, former West Indies fast bowling icon Joel “Big Bird” Garner and current England pacer Jofra Archer.
