Haynes favoured a more measured approach to batting and scored 7,487 runs in 116 Test matches at an average of 42.29, his highest Test innings of 184 coming against England in 1980. He is one of the few Test batsman to have been dismissed handled the ball, falling in this fashion against India on 24 November 1983. He is also one of the few players to have scored a century on an ODI debut.
He first made his name on the international scene with 148 at Antigua in a One-Day International against Australia and until recently Haynes held a number of ODI records, including most runs and most centuries. His 148 against Australia came on his debut match in One Day International which still remains the highest run ever made by a batsman on debut in ODI as well as the fastest century scored by an ODI debutant.[6] He played in the World Cup of 1979, won by the West Indies, and returned to the competition in 1983, 1987 and 1992. In the 25 World Cup matches, Haynes scored 854 runs at 37.13 with three fifties and one century. As of 10 December 2013 Haynes remains one of the only two players in the history of ODI cricket to have scored century on both debut and last match played, the only other being English batsman Dennis Amiss.
Like most West Indian openers, Haynes was strong against pace and, after struggling against spin early in his career, developed into a strong player of slow bowling, exemplified by his knocks of 75 and 143 against Australia on an SCG dustbowl in 1989.[7] Haynes had a successful career in English county cricket, playing 95 first-class games for Middlesex, scoring 7071 runs at 49.1 with a best of 255* against Sussex. He was awarded his Middlesex cap in 1989 and played at Lords till 1994. He played 63 first-class matches for Barbados from 1976/77 to 1994/95, scoring 4843 at 49.92 with a top score of 246 and 21 games for Western Province from 1994/95 to 1996/97, making 1340 runs at 40.6 with a best of 202*. In all first class cricket, he made 26030 runs at 45.90 and 15651 more in 419 one day games at 42.07 with a top score of 152*. He scored 61 first-class hundreds in all and won 55-man of the match awards in all forms of the game.
Haynes was only the third West Indian to carry his bat in a Test innings.[8] He is one of only two players in international Test Cricket to achieve this feat three times, the other being Dean Elgar. Haynes announced his retirement in March 1997 after playing a first-class game for Western Province against Natal in Cape Town. He made 83 in the first innings and was dismissed for a third-ball duck in the second and his last.[9]
His first Test century came in February 1980 against New Zealand at the Carisbrook, Dunedin, a match the West Indies lost by one wicket.[12] His highest score of 184 runs came the same year against England at the Lord's Cricket Ground, London.[13][14] Five of his Test centuries came against Australia.[10] Haynes scored Test centuries at twelve cricket grounds, against five different opponents, including eight at venues outside the West Indies.[15][16] As of August 2013, he is seventh in the list of Test century-makers for the West Indies.[17]
He scored a century on his ODI debut in February 1978 against Australia at the Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's.[18] His score of 148 runs in the match earned him a man of the match award, resulting in the West Indies' win.[19] His highest score in ODIs remained 152 runs, against India at the Bourda, Georgetown in March 1989.[11] Due to his man-of-the-match performance, the West Indies won the match by 101 runs, and the series 5–0.[20] He was most successful against Australia making six ODI centuries against them.[11] As of August 2013, Haynes is the third in the list of ODI century-makers for the West Indies,[21] and sixteenth overall among all-time combined century-makers.[22]