Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 02, 2014 Sports
By Sean Devers in Trinidad In Association with Digicel, Carib Beer,
Giftland Office Max, Payless Varity Store & Leisure Inn & Car Rentals
At 33, former West Indies and Guyana Captain Ramnaresh ‘Ronnie’ Sarwan seems to have found a new lease on life.
The elegant right-hander, who was recently married, started off the 2014 Regional NAGICO Super50 cricket tournament in Trinidad & Tobago with a scintillating unbeaten 89 from 62 balls with 10 fours and two sixes to spur Guyana to an emphatic 114-run win over Ireland at the Queens Park Oval on Friday night.
He seems to be more settled mentally and more importantly a lot fitter now and the way he oozed confidence in his 49th 50-overs fifty suggested that he was almost back to Sarwan of old.
“My fitness has improved. I have been working really hard on that and my batting in the last couple of months or so. I am pleased to be getting back into some kind of form,” a visible trimmer Sarwan disclosed on Friday night after the game.
In 87 Tests, Sarwan has scored 15 centuries and averages 40.01, while in 181 ODIs he has five tons and averages a respectable 42.67. His average in List ‘A’ is also over 40 and of his 11 hundreds at this level he has scored a Regional record three in one season in 2005 when Guyana last won the title. Brian Lara holds the overall record of four tons.
Before Friday’s knock, the lad from the Essequibo Island of Wakenaam had not passed 25 in his last nine innings in the CPL when he was Captain for the Amazon Warriors. But now with responsibility of the Captaincy off his shoulders his memorable innings against the Irish showed why he was once the number one ranked batsman in ODIs and called the ‘Finisher’ in limited overs cricket.
”Today (Friday) was one of those days when everything just clicked for me. It was good to be back making a significant contribution to my team, especially after not having the opportunity to play much cricket after the CPL due to a wrist injury and not scoring too many in the Inter-County tournament,” Sarwan explained.
Sarwan has had his ups and downs both on and off the field in the past, but it would be unwise to write him off now, since he has this way of picking himself up and continuing the fight every time life has put him on the canvas.
He became the Region’s youngest First-Class player at 15 after making his limited over debut for Guyana at Bourda in the 1996 Final when Rajendra Dhanraj became the only bowler to claim a hat-trick against Guyana at this level. He entered Test cricket at age 20 with a stunning unbeaten 84 against Pakistan in Barbados and earmarked to become a great West Indian batsman. 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.
But in his next series against Australia he could only manage three runs in five innings in Australia. He bounced back against India in 2001-02 and 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.
Off the field, Sarwan was one of the players involved in a contract dispute with WICB and missed the first Test against South Africa in 2005. On his return he scored attractive runs, but was again overlooked for the captaincy when it was handed back to Brian Lara.
After the last World Cup he was among the senior players (Chris Gayle and Shiv Chanderpaul among them) to publicly condemn the attitude of Coach Otis Gibson. His elevation to one of WIPA’s executives did not help his cause and he played his last Test in June 2011 against India in Barbados.
He was selected once again for the ODIs against India in June last year but was dropped. So Sarwan has become accustomed to the highs and lows of life and will want to reproduce his 2005 efforts in this tournament to resurrect his International career.
“We are taking one game at a time and our first aim is to reach to semi-finals. I am hoping to continue getting some runs in this tournament and my aim is to help Guyana win this title and of course get back into the West Indies team,” Sarwan informed.
And the former Skipper feels that the 2005 success can be repeated this year if everyone pulls their weight.
“It was a total team effort, everyone who got a chance to bat made their contribution even young (Leon) Johnson batted really well towards the end. We (Guyana team) were looking at a 270 total but we accelerated well in the last few overs and reached 300,” Sarwan revealed.
When asked if he thought this was a 300-pitch, since Guyana scored the highest total ever at this level at the ground a night after Jamaica had set a new ground record with their 282-5, Sarwan said, “No! I don’t think this is a 300 total pitch we just happened to bat really well and score pretty quickly in the last part of our innings.
Our team is a strong, well balanced one and tonight’s (Friday’s) victory has certainly given us confidence since it is always important to hit the road running and come away with an early win,” Sarwan added.
He has the class but now needs the consistency. A few more knocks like Friday’s will surely take him closer to his goal of once again wearing the Maroon colours.
Sarwan should get his next chance to further stake his claim for West Indies selection when Guyana oppose defending champions Windward Islands on Tuesday in another Day/Night encounter before playing their final preliminary round game on February 8 against Jamaica. The Guyanese collected a bonus point from their victory against the Irish.
LISTEN HOW JAGDEO WILL MAKE ALL GUYANESE RICH!!!
Apr 24, 2024
Round 2 GFF Women’s League Division One Kaieteur Sports – The Guyana Police Force FC on Saturday last demolished Pakuri Jaguars FC with a 17 – 0 goal blitz at the Guyana Football...Kaieteur News – Just recently, the PPC determined that it does not have the authority to vitiate a contract which was... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]