Darren Sammy to be replaced as West Indies test captain

[Beamer]

Word is he is to be replaced by Denesh Ramdin

Justice has been done. He cannot justify his place in the team, so the selectors have finally seen sense.The WICB directors just need to ratify their decision tonight and it will be done. As the president and CEO are no longer St Lucian, this will surely be a formality.

Sammy has not commanded a place in the team outside of being captain and some see his inclusion as one that has thrown off selectors when it comes to getting the right 11 on the park.

100 % correct and our test team will be a lot stronger for this change. Whilst Sammy is a reasonable captain and a good guy, he is not a Test class cricketer and the 3 years free pass he was given on the test side by the St Lucian president was hard to stomach for many West Indians. Now is the time to move forward and I think Ramdin is the right man to lead us right now. He's worthy of his place in the side, has scored heaps of runs comparable to any other international keeper over the last 2 years and he has excellent pedigree as a leader (T & T Under 19, West Indies Under 19, T & T etc).

Here's to a much better season for our test side and much less moaning from West Indies fans as a result of this long overdue decision .

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah this is a decision that needed to be made, especially after it became clear many members of the team lacked respect for him as they felt he wasn't worthy of being picked as a player. I lack enough knowledge of the other potential candidates but Ramdin seems a sound choice to me.

 

[hendrix]

I'm not a fan of Ramdin, but he's the right choice here.

Here's hoping they pick their best bowlers too.

 

[Beamer]

I'm not a fan of Ramdin, but he's the right choice here.

Here's hoping they pick their best bowlers too.

I'm sure our selectors will give us something to complain about, they are after all worse than useless. But this is a big step in the right direction and I for one am delighted.

I'm looking forward to seeing who they pick, but the bowling attack will be much stronger without Sammy. In a recent interview with the press Otis Gibson, who is now part of the selection committee, hinted strongly that the bowling attack will include Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach (if fit). He also went out of his way to mention how much better Sulieman Benn is bowling this year and how he could bowl in tandem with Narine. He thinks that would form an extremely strong bowling attack and I tend to agree with him.

Our batting is terrible though and it will be equally interesting to see if they look to shake that up as well.

 

[hendrix]

hmmm, if they do play two spinners that means Dwayne Bravo will also probably get the nod at 6 or 7 depending where Ramdin bats as they'll want a pace bowling allrounder. That makes for a rather weak batting lineup but if there aren't any better batsmen anyway...

 

[karan316]

Won't like it if Sammy is shown the door from the test side but it was going to happen sooner or later. Sammy should have taken more responsibility as a batsman in the test side and batted higher in the order. He even had a decent record as a test bowler before he started underbowling himself in the last few games. Overall, not sure how it'll affect the team but Sammy could have tried to contribute a bit more rather than focusing completely on captaincy.

 

[viriya]

I'm sure our selectors will give us something to complain about, they are after all worse than useless. But this is a big step in the right direction and I for one am delighted.

I'm looking forward to seeing who they pick, but the bowling attack will be much stronger without Sammy. In a recent interview with the press Otis Gibson, who is now part of the selection committee, hinted strongly that the bowling attack will include Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach (if fit). He also went out of his way to mention how much better Sulieman Benn is bowling this year and how he could bowl in tandem with Narine. He thinks that would form an extremely strong bowling attack and I tend to agree with him.

Our batting is terrible though and it will be equally interesting to see if they look to shake that up as well.

On Roach, is injury the only reason he hasn't played lately? He's the only bowler since Walsh to average below 28 for WI:
Cricket Records | West Indies | Records | Test matches | Best averages | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Slifer]

I'm sure our selectors will give us something to complain about, they are after all worse than useless. But this is a big step in the right direction and I for one am delighted.

I'm looking forward to seeing who they pick, but the bowling attack will be much stronger without Sammy. In a recent interview with the press Otis Gibson, who is now part of the selection committee, hinted strongly that the bowling attack will include Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach (if fit). He also went out of his way to mention how much better Sulieman Benn is bowling this year and how he could bowl in tandem with Narine. He thinks that would form an extremely strong bowling attack and I tend to agree with him.

Our batting is terrible though and it will be equally interesting to see if they look to shake that up as well.

So I take it that they're are not considering Jason Holder then???

 

[Beamer]

hmmm, if they do play two spinners that means Dwayne Bravo will also probably get the nod at 6 or 7 depending where Ramdin bats as they'll want a pace bowling allrounder. That makes for a rather weak batting lineup but if there aren't any better batsmen anyway...

Bravo would have been heavily considered but he injured his shoulder in the IPL and won't have had enough cricket before the test series starts (at least I severely doubt he will have had). The 2 spinner policy may well work in Jonathan Carter's favour as he bowls effective medium-fast stuff that would prove as useful as Deonarine's spin used to. Personally, I would go in with 4 quality bowlers and bolster the batting. I think an attack of Roach, Taylor, Narine and Benn should be able to take 20 NZ wickets at Sabina Park, which turns a long way (Benn loves bowling there as does Narine). The biggest challenge will be putting up enough runs against Southee and Boult, so I would play 6 front line batsmen. So given Otis Gibson's hints, I expect the side might be:

Gayle
Powell/Braithwaite
Edwards
Bravo
Chanderpaul
Samuels
Ramdin (c)
Benn
Taylor
Narine
Roach

That's a pretty good side with the major batting weaknesses being the 2nd opener and a long tail. Of course if Samuels is still in terrible form then they might bring in Carter or Leon Johnson. The bowling is certainly in a completely different league to what we endured on the India and New Zealand tours.

 

[Beamer]

On Roach, is injury the only reason he hasn't played lately? He's the only bowler since Walsh to average below 28 for WI:
Cricket Records | West Indies | Records | Test matches | Best averages | ESPN Cricinfo

He's been injured, he would walk straight back in the side because as you pointed out, his record is excellent. He's only really going to have played club cricket though so it will be a risk.

So I take it that they're are not considering Jason Holder then???

I hope they are as they will need another seamer in the squad. If they chose either Holder or Carlos Braithwaite ahead of Taylor I wouldn't complain, they both bring something to the table and would boost the lower order batting too. They will also be under pressure to select Kenroy Peters though as he was the best bowler on show in the 4 day competition and was really moving the new and old ball.

 

[kyear2]

It's a bout time. Regarding the captain, Ramdin is a good choice and has proven himself as a player in all three formats.

Roach is our best fast bowler, outside of that there is no certainty though Marine will surely get a fair run.

 

[morgieb]

Please recall Taylor, if only for selfish reasons.

Good move to dump Sammy. Just isn't worth a Test spot.

 

[karan316]

Taylor and Roach can destroy batting line ups if they keep fit and play more tests. I would love to watch the bowl with Edward being the 3rd seamer. Also, any chances of Sarwan making a comeback?

 

[Maximas]

Glad to hear this, Sammy is especially detrimental to team balance when they play with two spinners, while he had a good period with the bat in 2012 he's never proven himself worthy of being a 2nd seamer (or even a 3rd at times) and neither is he good enough to bat at 7, good riddance

 

[Hurricane]

I don't blame the WI for picking Sammy in the first place. I think team balance and adding some staunch to your lower order can be a valid theory. What we have learned from the experiment is that it doesn't work, you need your 4 best bowlers, a keeper and 6 batsman hopefully one of whom can bowl.

I am trying to remember back to the 80s to recall if it was six batsman or five batsman back then - will check out some score cards.

I hope that Sammy's assault on Darren Bravo was a factor in his demise.

 

[BackFootPunch]

This really disappoints me for some reason. Sammy seems like he could be such a good captain and he's done some good things despite seemingly having the backing of almost no one.

Ramdin just seems like a bit of a dick, too. Maybe it was that stupid sign when he scored the ton in England. All those in the know reckon he's captaincy material though so I guess we'll see in time.

 

[Maximas]

Ramdin just seems like a bit of a dick, too. Maybe it was that stupid sign when he scored the ton in England. All those in the know reckon he's captaincy material though so I guess we'll see in time.

He claimed a blatently false catch in the CT last year as well, can't say I trust his character either tbh

 

[Howe_zat]

I don't blame the WI for picking Sammy in the first place. I think team balance and adding some staunch to your lower order can be a valid theory. What we have learned from the experiment is that it doesn't work, you need your 4 best bowlers, a keeper and 6 batsman hopefully one of whom can bowl.

I am trying to remember back to the 80s to recall if it was six batsman or five batsman back then - will check out some score cards.

I hope that Sammy's assault on Darren Bravo was a factor in his demise.

People often forget that the great Windies sides often had a dodgy #7 shoehorned in there in the pursuit of a 5-man attack. Marshall (batting average 19) played 14 Tests there. Roger Harper played 8 Tests in the position.

Eldine Baptiste had a run of 9 Tests in 1984 as 4th seamer batting below Marshall, with a bowling average in the mid 30s, and all of his Tests were wins.

 

[hendrix]

what I don't like about Ramdin has nothing to do with that other stuff; the sign to Viv was so utterly juvenile and silly, but then he's a sports player so I don't really care about him being a dick. Well, I do, he's a dick but that doesn't necessarily affect how he plays.

He's just an extremely lazy wicket keeper. He never runs up to the stumps when there's a chance of a run out. Numerous times I've seen potential runouts where he could've got up to the stumps but just resigned himself to hoping for a direct hit. He barely moves towards leg side wides except for futile dives at the last second (as opposed to actually moving towards the line of the ball and then diving). He just doesn't make an effort.

 

[BackFootPunch]

what I don't like about Ramdin has nothing to do with that other stuff; the sign to Viv was so utterly juvenile and silly, but then he's a sports player so I don't really care about him being a dick. Well, I do, he's a dick but that doesn't necessarily affect how he plays.

He's just an extremely lazy wicket keeper. He never runs up to the stumps when there's a chance of a run out. Numerous times I've seen potential runouts where he could've got up to the stumps but just resigned himself to hoping for a direct hit. He barely moves towards leg side wides except for futile dives at the last second (as opposed to actually moving towards the line of the ball and then diving). He just doesn't make an effort.

Yeah, agree with this. To use a baseball term, Ramdin tends to lack hustle - he doesn't seem to play the game 'the right way' (and I do think there is such a thing).

Unfortunately though, Sammy probably can't justify his selection with performances at the moment so they've gotta make a change for the good of the team.