RAMDASS, Ryan Rakesh
D.O.B: July 3, 1983 (East Coast Demerara)
Teams:Demerara, Guyana, West Indies
Ryan Ramdass is a stockily built right-handed opening batsman who has been involved in 21 first-class matches to date including a solitary Test for the West Indies against Sri Lanka in Kandy in 2005. He learnt the art of batting from an early age at the Everest Cricket Club in Georgetown and was soon representing Demerara in the Under-19 inter-county competition. A year later (2001) he was rewarded with a place in the Guyana youth team to contest the regional youth tournament.
Consistent efforts at the club and national junior levels influenced the selectors to include him in the West Indies B team – a young developmental outfit – to participate in the 2004 regional four-day Red Stripe competition.
He made his debut against the visiting Kenyans and had a promising season, first accumulating 312 runs from six games for the West Indies B, and then registering a fine half-century for Guyana against Barbados at the Kensington Oval in the semi-final phase of the tournament.
Ramdass reaped a rich harvest at the beginning of 2005 recording 502 runs that year inclusive of three superb hundreds – two against the Bajans and the other against Trinidad and Tobago – which kept him in the regional selectors’ radar.
His first century which was an unbeaten 144 at the Kensington Oval followed a knock of 57 in the first innings which helped Guyana to a victory target of 270 on the final day’s play for the loss of only four wickets.
His cracking match-winning innings which was decorated with 17 sweetly-executed fours and one six, coupled with his other exploits, won him a trip to Sri Lanka with the West Indies A team later that year.
The latter part of the tour involving three unofficial ‘Tests’ and five unofficial ‘One Day Internationals was scheduled to be played simultaneously with an engagement of two Tests between West Indies and Sri Lanka and a tri-series One Day tournament which included India. 
However, with the withdrawal of several top players from the West Indies team over disputed contractual agreements with the West Indies Cricket Board, a number of the ‘A’ team members were summoned to represent the regional team on the official tour.
Ramdass was one of the players chosen and he was selected to open the batting in the second Test after the West Indies had lost the first by the six wickets inside four days.
In his debut (and only Test), Sri Lanka batted first and fell for a paltry 150 with Darren Powell (5/25) doing the bulk of the damage. The West Indies could only get to 148 (ChamindaVaas 6/22) with the debutant being dismissed run-out for three in a lousy mix-up with Xavier Marshall.
The hosts fared far better second time round compiling 375 setting the visitors 378 for victory in more than ample time. They surrendered meekly to Mutiah Muralitharan in particular (8/46) to be bundled out for a measly 137 (Ramdass 23) to lose by a massive 240 runs with more than a day to spare.
In the tri-series One Day tournament the West Indies failed to make it to the final and lost three of the four round-robin games one of which Ramdass participated in .
In Dambulla, the Sri Lankans posted 241 for six off 50 overs and the tourists were bowled out for 191 in 45.1 overs to lose by 50 runs. For his part, the opener eked out a single run off nine deliveries before his stumps were disturbed by the fast-medium bowler Farveez Maharoof.
Combined with a dramatic loss in form and a series of severe injuries, Ramdass has been on the sidelines for the past five years.
At age 28, time is running out but a quick return to full fitness and form and a desire to be truly disciplined and committed may just enable him to wend his way back to the top.
RECORD:
TEST 1: RUNS 26: AVG 13: HS: 23 vs Sri Lanka, Kandy, 2005
ODI 1: RUNS 1: AVG 1: HS: 1 vs Sri Lanka, Dambulla, 2005

(Digicel: Guyana’s Bigger, Better Network)