West Indies Cricket Players
Brian
Lara |
Chris Gayle |
Corey Collymore |
Denesh
Ramdin |
Devon Smith
|
Dwayne Bravo |
Dwayne
Smith |
Jermaine Lawson
|
Marlon Samuels |
Omari
Banks |
Ramnaresh Sarwan
|
Ricardo Powell |
Shiv
Chanderpaul |
Wavell Hinds
|
Joel Garner |
Andy
Roberts |
Cameron Cuffy
Ramnaresh Sarwan
A nimble, Chaplinesque right-hander, Ramnaresh Sarwan was brought up in the South American rainforest around the Essequibo River. After his first Test innings, 84 not out against Pakistan, Ted Dexter was moved to predict a Test average of more than 50 - an unfair millstone to hang around any young player's neck. But on his first tour, to England in 2000, Sarwan lived up to the hype by topping the averages. His footwork, which seemed to require no early trigger movements, was strikingly confident and precise. It was a surprise when he then produced a horror run of three runs in five innings in Australia, but against India in 2001-02 he was back to his composed best. Sarwan, who took over as Brian Lara's vice-captain in March 2003, required 28 matches and 49 innings to post his maiden Test century, 119 in December 2002 - and even then it came against the less-than-mighty Bangladeshis. But, as the likes of Graham Gooch and Steve Waugh can testify, the first time is often the hardest, and since then, his batting has achieved a greater level of consistency. A dream series against South Africa in 2003-04, where he averaged nearly a 100 runs a Test, was followed by a lean run against England. But he battled on, and returned to form in a stunning manner with an unbeaten 261 against Bangladesh in June. Then came the England tour in 2004 where he began and ended the tour on a low note, but was prolific in the middle. However, West Indian fortunes were on the ascendency in one-dayers, as they reached the finals of the Natwest Series and then won the ICC Champions Trophy. Sarwan played a big hand in both tournaments, and carried on his good form in Australia.
