‘He needs to put the numbers on the tins’
FORMER Guyana and West Indies all rounder Roger Harper believes discarded 30 year old West Indies middle order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has what it takes to get back into the fray, but he needs to select himself by putting the numbers on the tins. On Sunday, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) selection panel led by former off spinner Clyde Butts announced the team to tour Sri Lanka, led by Darren Sammy with Australian-born Brendan Nash as his deputy, but there was no place for Sarwan, who was not offered a retainer contract by the WICB.
“A player of his calibre is hard to be left out of any team and considering the nature of the tour, it was a surprise omission. We know there is no Muttiah Muralitharan in the Sri Lankan team, but knowing that Sarwan is a great player of spin bowling as he has displayed in the past, he should have been in the team,” said Harper.
The 47 year old Harper added, “What Ronnie needs to do now is put the numbers on the tins and he is a more than capable enough batsman who can do that. Once that is done in such a way, he can pick himself to be a member of the team, as he is a high quality player who can help stabilise the middle order.”
When asked to comment on the non-issuance of a retainer contract, the present president of the Georgetown Cricket Association who played 25 Test matches for the West Indies and took 46 wickets at an average of 28.06, said that was another surprise to him (Harper) also.
“Everybody was surprised that a player of Sarwan’s quality was not given a retainer contract for reasons only the WICB can say. However, what they (WICB or the selection committee) need to do at this stage is to demand an audience with the player and show him where he has fallen short.
I worked with the Guyana team for a short while prior to their departure for South Africa to compete in the Airtel Champions League and to my mind, Sarwan looked in good shape. May not have been to the level required by the WICB which I have no idea of, but he was in the pink of condition.”
He added; “Only he (Sarwan) can overcome the hurdles placed in his way and the best way to do so is by putting the numbers on the tins. He is a middle order batsman with tremendous ability and he will know how to do it as he has displayed time and time again, his ability to score heavily.”
Sarwan played the last of his 83 tests in which he has scored 5,759 runs at an average of 41.73, with 15 centuries and a highest score of 291 made against England, last year against the former top ranked team Australia at Perth where he made 42 and 11 in a match the West Indies lost by 35 runs.
He has led Guyana to both the inaugural Stanford T20 championship in 2006 and the WICB Caribbean T20 championship in August of this year.
Harper also took the time to comment on Guyana’s performance in the present WICB Regional Limited overs tournament which is being played in Jamaica, calling their 151 runs loss to Barbados last Sunday poor and unimaginable.
“This team is capable of doing a lot better than what they are showing right now. That performance against Barbados where they lost by 151 runs was poor and definitely unimaginable.
To lose a limited overs match is bad, to lose by such a margin is beyond bad and I think the senior players need to put their hands up and be counted, as the buck stops with them,” said the former West Indies coach.
While he opted not to comment on whether the non-issuance of a retainer contract as well as his axing from the team would affect Sarwan’s performance in Jamaica, Harper did back the national captain to bounce back with a bang in the not too distant future.